


#6 I'm the one that got away

by DirrtyHaruka, ScaryPunkGh0st



Series: The Walking Dead - Gallows [6]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Possible Character Death, Psychological Horror, Romance, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2020-03-26 11:39:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19005043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DirrtyHaruka/pseuds/DirrtyHaruka, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScaryPunkGh0st/pseuds/ScaryPunkGh0st
Summary: Everything started to take shape. Life seemed almost normal again. But darkness loomed over the heads of the Ericson school residents, who were unaware of the incoming nightmare.





	1. Prologue - Keep you in the dark

Wind brushed through the trees, letting the leaves and branches sway back and forth, rustling into the silence of the night.  
Owls were listening for the movements of any critters who dared to move in their vicinity.  
The mysterious hooting echoing through the woods.  
The steady rushing of water could be heard, from not that far away.  
Sometimes the wind carried almost inaudible groaning with it.  
Noises reminiscent of voices lamenting.  
The full moon was looming in the sky barely able to break through the darkness of the woods, casting dancing shadows onto the ground, enjoying the stars above them.  
Something plump and heavy fell onto the ground accompanied by grass rustling and sticks cracking under confident steps.  
Metal met earth and the repetitive sound of shoveling joined the symphony of the night.  
A tall, bulky, shadowy figure could be seen working, seemingly effortlessly and well knowing what to do exactly.  
The figures pace was steady, but fast.  
The work would be done soon and with only the night as a witness.  
_Just like it always was._


	2. Nothing has to change today

Violet sat on the stairs right in front of the main building. She was waiting for Clementine so they could start their morning routine.  
They called it morning routine but it was more of a once or twice a week thing they did, to get an overview on what still needs to be worked on and what was finished or what needed more planning.  
Clementine came out of the door, accompanied by Willy, who opened the door for her, greeted Violet and immediately went to his assigned work.  
Violet stood up to took her place on Clementine’s left side and they started walking. 

“You already checked the courtyard, I guess?” Clementine looked at Violet with a little smile, which Violet mirrored instinctively. 

“Like I always do, yes. Next up are Aasim and the rabbits.”

“Like always.” Clementine sighed somewhat bored. This routines weren’t thrilling at all, but they were necessary. Otherwise the other Kids would start slacking off.  
Well maybe not all of them but some for sure. 

“So I’m not entertaining enough for you? Should I go get Louis?” Violet acted annoyed but was unable to hide the slight grin. 

“You’re the only entertaining thing about this routine, honey, no need for Louis here.” She smiled an extra sugary smile, winking at her. 

“Ugh I’m getting cavities, stop it.” Violet rolled her eyes slowly, making Clementine laugh. 

“Come on, you love it when I call you that.” Violet shrugged and just grumbled in discontent about being unable to deny that claim.

“I knew it” Clementine still laughed, when they reached the rabbit cages Aasim had build on the side of the greenhouse. 

“You’re awfully happy today, Clem. What happened?” Aasim looked at her for a second before going back to feeding the rabbits in the upper cage.

“Violet” Was the short answer to Aasim’s question, which seemed to confuse him. 

“The rabbits doing ok?” Violet asked instead of Clementine who was still giggling. Aasim continued to look irritated at Clementine for a second before shaking his head slowly and opening his mouth to answer Violet. 

“They’re coming along great. The big ones are almost there and we have the start of a good circle going with the adults and babies. With luck we can be good with the rabbits for the winter. ” He still was tending to the rabbits while talking, making sure none of them would escape while the cage doors were open. 

“Sounds good. How’s the greenhouse doing?” Clementine finally had her composure back. 

“Ruby said everything’s good, but you should ask her herself. She’s inside. Wanted to do something with dirt or I don’t know.” He shrugged, closing the cage and opening another one. 

“You mean soil?” Violet tilted her head a little bit, while watching him repeating the task of feeding the rabbits. 

“Yes. Maybe I should be able to memorize the words if I’m the one doing the greenhouse diary, shouldn’t I?” He shot Violet an apologetic smile. 

“Maybe ask Ruby to explain the stuff you write in it.” Clementine encouraged him. He nodded. 

“Will do. I need to finish this here. I promised Willy to help him with the Bell tower.” 

“Bell tower?” Aasim froze for a second. He wasn’t supposed to tell Clementine anything about the Bell tower and he forgot about it. 

“We wanted to get rid of the rubble in there. You know? Salvaging?”

“Did you know that?” Clementine looked over to Violet. She shrugged and shook her head. 

“Nope. But more material isn’t bad, I guess. Also I did almost fell while climbing it. Multiple times. So getting rid of the shit laying around in there isn’t that bad of an idea.” Clementine thought about it for a few moments. 

“It is a good spot to keep watch.” 

“See? Can I finish here now?” Clementine snapped out of her thoughts. 

“Yeah sure. Let’s see if Ruby has some news. Thank you, Aasim.” 

“See you later, Clem.” Violet waved her hand and followed Clementine into the greenhouse.

 

“Good morning, Ruby.” Clementine shot her a friendly smile when Ruby looked up from the patch she was working on. 

“Mornin’ Clem, Mornin’ Vi, How’s the routine goin’ ? “ She turned to them while cleaning her hands on a piece of cloth she had hanging out of her pocket. Clementine leaned against a workbench. 

“Good, thank you. Any problems here?” Ruby shook her head smiling.

“Everything’s fine and workin’. Still waiting for the compost that’s still not ready, sadly, but it’s comin’ along. Rabbits are helpin’ greatly.” She seemed really happy about how the greenhouse turned out. 

“Any news about the heating situation?” They tried to figure out a way to keep the greenhouse warm for ages now and since winter was slowly knocking on the door, it started to get urgent. 

“Kent and Kevin from Christa’s group said they might have an idea, but didn’t get into much detail about it. They wanted to come by today to look at some things. Vi, please don’t touch that, the herbs are sensitive. If you’re bored help me with the soil, ok?” Ruby shot Violet a Stern look, making her tense up a little bit. 

“Sorry… geez.” She mumbled. Clementine shook her head in amusement. 

“They all have been very helpful lately. Christa, Ashley, Kent and Kevin are going to stay a while, too. Dan already seems to make himself at home here.” Clementine had placed her crutches beside her, half sitting on the workbench now, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Aasim sometimes helps him out. Must be a huge project to set up the forge.” Clementine nodded in agreement. 

“It is. When we discussed it and made the plans for it, he explained it to me. There is a chance that we don’t get it running at all, but we figured we should try. AJ is up in flames about it, too.  
The idea to make things that help us protect ourselves really riled him up. He soaks up everything Dan teaches him.” Violet, who has started to move some bags of soil from the closets to the benches behind Ruby, huffed a bit. 

“He always tries to share his newly gained wisdom about it with me, but he’s always all over the place while jabbering. I don’t think that I understood anything at all, to be honest.” Ruby looked at her. 

“Ya put on some muscle weight, finally I must say, but I don’t think smiting would be something for ya anyway, Vi.” She laughed and turned back to Clementine, without giving Violet the time to say anything in return. 

“Talkin’ about muscle, how’s your trainin’ comin’ along, Clem? I hope ya don’t overwork yourself.” She genuinely seemed concerned. 

“It’s fine. I stick to the workout plan we made, so no overdoing it.”

“You would overdo it, if I would let you” Violet said a bit louder since she was still carrying stuff around the greenhouse. 

“I know how far I can go” Clementine grumbled a bit. 

“Yeah, sure. Wasn’t that you who sat on the bed last week, whining about how much her sore muscles hurt?“ Violet grinned. Clementine turned her head away. 

“I don’t know…” 

Violet looked at Ruby, silently laughing and rolling her eyes, making her laugh in return. 

“Just try not to overdo it too much, would ya?” Ruby had  
turned back to Clementine. 

“I won’t, ok?” Ruby nodded satisfied. Violet finally took her place on Clementine’s side again. 

“Done. You should have everything you need in its place now.” 

“Thank you, Vi. What would I do without you?” Ruby’s amusement was obvious. 

“Probably shouting at Aasim to do it instead.” Violet shrugged but smiled widely. 

“Probably.” Ruby winked. Clementine got back onto her crutches. 

“We should go on and check the rest now.” Violet and Ruby both nodded in agreement. 

“See you at lunch, Ruby.” Violet waved goodbye, following Clementine to the door. 

“Sure thing. Have fun you two.” 

 

“You know, I was thinking… “ Clementine started after they had walked in silence for a while. 

“You think all the time. What’s it this time?” Violet smiled and Clementine rolled her eyes a bit. 

“Idiot… ” She laughed.

“…We could try to build a well. I mean the river is a good source for water, but if we could work out how to do it, having a water source inside here would be better, wouldn’t it?” Violet gestured aimlessly into the air.

“I guess? But you would have to find a place with enough underground water reservoirs to flow back into the well, to be able to get use out of it. We also would need pipes.” Clementine looked at her in surprise.

“How do you know that?”

“Do you know how many times I was on watch, with nothing happening? That’s boring as fuck. So I take a book with me sometimes.” 

“About well building?” Clementine was still confused.

“It was about how farms are build, which included wells. But don’t ask me about how to find these underground water reservoirs, I have no clue how that works.” Violet shrugged. 

“So you basically just quoted the book just now?” 

“Yeah, did you really think I happen to know how to build a well? Just because?” Clementine grimaced slightly.

“Kinda. I thought maybe someone build one when you were a kid or something. That’s why I asked you how you knew that.”

“I lived in a trailer not on a ranch, babe.” Violet laughed.

“Still, a well would be something we should consider to build.” Clementine got back to the point of the conversation.

“We can check the plan, when we’re back in the office.”

“Would be a project for after fixing the hole in the wall, I think.” Clementine said after contemplating for a bit.

“That would give us more space to plan with at least. I put it on the list, when we’re back.” Clementine smiled at her.

“Thank you.” 

“Clem!” AJ ran up to her, as soon as he saw her and Violet turn around the corner. 

“Hey, kiddo. How’s the forge coming along?” She looked over through the open door into the room they had chosen to build in. 

“We need more of the red stones, the last wall isn’t covered yet.”

“And we don’t want to set the school on fire. Do we have bricks left?” Clementine asked Violet. 

“On the pile by the cemetery. And there were some in the rubble from the bell tower, I think.” 

“Nice! I go tell Dan!” And off he went into the room. 

“He’s so excited about the forge. I hope it works out. Otherwise he will be crushed.” Clementine sighed, before following him into the room, Violet close by. 

“Good morning, Dan. How are you today?” She said, after AJ had excitingly told Dan about the bricks. The elderly man turned to her, throwing the trowel in his hand into a bin right beside him, before wiping his hands on his jeans, smiling at Clementine under his thick grey beard. 

“Fit like a fat cat on a Sunday afternoon and as happy to see you like said cat is happy to see food, pumpkin. How are you doing?”  
Clementine stood there for a moment trying to comprehend what Dan just said. He always came up with the strangest metaphors. Every day it was a new one. 

“Uh… I’m fine, thank you.”

“Hope the Missus is doing fine, too.” He winked at Violet who rolled her eyes but gave him a half smile. 

“Sure.”

“What can I do for you, girls?”

“We just wanted to check how the forge is coming along.” 

“It’s doing great. The furnace is drying outside. That will take some time and I have to see if it won’t burst, but the walls are almost fire proven and our little boy here found a huge metal bucket somewhere in the school, to cool the metal in later.” He patted AJs head proudly. 

“I did a good job!” 

“You sure did. But don’t get too excited ok? It’s not safe to say that it will work.” AJ nodded. 

“Yeah, I know. But if it works it will be soooo cool.” Clementine laughed. 

“We’ll see if you’re still so excited once the furnace works.”

“It’s just a little hot. I’ll be okay.” Clementine and Violet snickered at the same time. 

“If you say so.” AJ pouted a bit. “Come on, I’m just messing with you. You will be great, I know it.” Clementine ruffled through his hair, earning a giggle from him. 

“Christa is here!” Willy’s shouting echoed through the courtyard, loud enough for them to hear it inside the forge. 

“We should go and greet her then.” Clementine looked at AJ and Dan, smiling at them. 

“Ok! See you later, Clem.” AJ hugged her for a second, as good as he could. 

“See you later, goofball. You too, Dan.”

“Later, pumpkin.” He smiled whole heartedly and just winked at Violet, who waved goodbye to him. 

“See you, kiddo.” Violet said before following Clementine out to the courtyard, where Willy, with the help of Aasim already had opened the gate to let the other group in.  
Clementine and Violet welcomed them with a smile, Clementine’s bigger than Violet’s, like usual.

“You’re early. Must’ve been still dark out when you left the library.” Clementine said, while receiving a short hug from Christa.

“I wanted to wait, but the big manly men, insisted that they would protect us and that we would have more time to work if we arrive soon after dusk” Obviously Christa was very amused about it.

“We did protect you, didn’t we?” Kent stood there, arms folded in front of his chest while simultaneously trying to look bulkier than he really was, in fact this pose made him look thinner and the poor excuse of a beard he had didn’t helped him achieve the protector look he was going for either. 

“Yes, Kent. From a walker that wasn’t even heading towards us” Christa laughed “but they were right. We have more time to work now.” She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her head to Ashley, who then started to gesture seemingly random into the air, wild, long brown hair falling into her blue eyes. 

“Ashley wants to know if one of you knows where Louis is.” Christa turned to Clementine and Violet again. Clementine shook her head but Violet answered. 

“Main building. The piano was acting up the other day and he wanted to check what’s wrong. You should find him there.” Ashley nodded, waved and went on her way to the main building. “Bet he forgot that she wanted to continue the sign language lessons?” Violet grinned.

“And despite knowing that, you didn’t remind him, didn’t you?” When Clementine looked at her she was still grinning widely.

“Nope.” Clementine rolled her eyes and looked over to the three guests, that had to really try not to laugh.

“Did I ever mention how much I like her?” Kevin pointed at Violet with an amused smile, while turned to Christa, causing her to not be able to hold the laugh she was trying to keep in.

“Since we had a good laugh on Louis expense now, my work here is done. Time for my turn to patrol.” Violet waved and already started moving, when Clementine stopped her for a moment.

“Can you wait for me at the gate? I wanted to talk to you about the patrol today, before you leave.” Violet furrowed her eyebrows.

“Uhm… , sure? I wait.”

“Thank you.” Violet nodded and then walked over to the gate.

“Christa, could you help Willy and Aasim sorting the bricks out of the rubble in the Bell tower, today? Dan needs them to finish fire proving the forge.” Clementine had turned to Christa again.

“Sure. I guess they already have the wheelbarrow with them?” Clementine shook her head.

“I saw it by the greenhouse.”

“I get it for you. Kent and I wanted to check if we’re able to build the heating system for the greenhouse we came up with, so we’re over there anyway.” Clementine looked up and at Kevin.

“I meant to ask you about that plan. You really think you can do that?” Kevin nodded while rolling his sleeves up to his elbows, unable to roll them up any further because of his muscular upper arms tightening his shirt too much already. 

“We have to check first, but I don’t think that it should be a big problem. The school has enough pipes that serve no purpose anymore, so we could use them to heat them up with an outside furnace, guide them through the greenhouse and heat it up that way.  
That’s the idea.  
It’s not ideal because you can’t really choose a certain temperature but it’s better than nothing.” Clementine listened closely, thinking about what he said. 

“Sounds good to me.”

“First we have to insulate it, of course but we could be done with everything in one or one and a half weeks.” Clementine nodded. 

“Perfect. If you need anything, just ask, I make sure you two get what you need to get done as soon as possible. Thank you.” 

“Don’t sweat it. You guys helped us, so we're just returning the favor.” He smiled. 

“Let’s get to work then, shall we?” Kent looked at Christa and Kevin. 

“Sure. We meet later for lunch, Clem?” Clementine nodded. 

“Of course. See you later then.” Kent and Kevin waved goodbye, making their way over to the greenhouse, while Christa went over to the bell tower. 

 

Clementine walked over to Violet, who was patiently waiting for her at the gate. 

“Sorry, took longer than expected.”

“No problem.” Violet met Clementine with a smile, waiting for whatever she wanted to talk about. 

“Actually it’s not really something I wanted to talk about with you, I just want you to take me along.” Violet immediately looked a bit worried.

“Do you think that’s a good idea? I mean, it’s not that I think you can’t it’s just… It’s dangerous.” It was obvious that she struggled to find the right words.

“I know that it’s dangerous.”

“But you need it. I get it.” Violet sighed. “Do you need anything before we go?” Clementine shot her a thankful smile.

“I’m ready when you are.” Violet opened the little door by the gate and held it open for her.

“Let’s go then.” She smiled and waited for Clementine to go through. 

“Are you doing the small patrol or the long one?” Clementine watched as Violet closed the door behind them. 

“Both, kind of. I check the traps, skip the shack and walk the circle inside the hunting area. Aasim will check the shack later today, he wanted to switch the nets.” When Clementine started walking, Violet closely watched how her crutches behaved on the dirt, to be sure that she wouldn’t have problems moving. 

“Maybe we should think about removing the traps. Resetting them takes too much time and energy we can use elsewhere. They were a good insurance for the school back then but everyone is capable of handling the walkers now, so we don’t need them anymore.”  
Clementine looked up to one of the huge boulders three of them had to lift via the rope that was guided over one of the strong branches. And despite it being a thick branch, the rope started to cut into it. 

“Louis won’t like that idea. He loves these traps, for  
whatever reason.”

“He wouldn’t like to get hit by that boulder either if the branch cracks.” Clementine pointed at the cut. 

“Shit. Yeah, let’s get rid of them.”

“Also, maybe we can use the boulders for something more practical then. But we’ll see.” Violet quickly checked the rest of the traps. 

“The other traps are leaving cuts, too. We shouldn’t wait too long, to schedule the take down.” Clementine nodded. 

“We check who can do it when we’re back.” She already turned to walk towards the hunting grounds. 

“It’s good that we made the ends of your crutches wider.” Violet said after some moments of silence.

“Helps with the balance training as well.”

“You sure are something.” Violet smiled. 

“That’s a strange compliment.” 

“You know that I’m not the sappy type.” Violet gestured vaguely. 

“Oh, you can be, but you’re subtle about it or you’re not really realizing what you’re saying until it’s out already.”  
Clementine smirked, causing Violet to roll her eyes, to hide her slight embarrassment. 

“I like these little things you say, when you don’t think too much about it.” She added. 

“I just don’t want to be too over the top, you know?” Violet shrugged but her shoulders hung lower than usual. 

“Do you really think you being sappy would scare me away?” 

“I don’t know. Maybe?” Now it was Clementine’s turn to roll her eyes. 

“Stop worrying so much. I’m going nowhere, especially not because of you being cute.” She smiled lovingly. 

“Hey, it’s gotten better already.” Violet mirrored the smile. 

“That’s true.” 

“I really do… “ Whatever Violet wanted to say was cut short, when her right foot met loose dirt, making her lose her balance immediately, as the earth gave in under her. 

“Violet!... ”


	3. Say it, Spit it out

Clementine had tossed her crutches to the side and thrown herself onto the ground in an desperate attempt to catch Violet, but missed her by less than an inch.

“No!” She robbed forwards to look into the hole, unable to take the time to prepare for the worst.  
When her head moved over the edge, she was relieved to see that Violet was still in one piece, holding on to a root she had been able to grab before falling to deep into the hole.

“Fuck, are you ok?”

“Somewhat. But something slashed my leg.” Clementine reached down to pull Violet out of the hole. She needed to get on her knees to be able to, but in the end she managed to get her out.

“Let me see your leg.” Violet already sat on the ground and stretched her right leg out.

“It doesn’t hurt that bad. What the fuck is down there?”  
Clementine examined her leg.  
Whatever managed to rip the jeans along Violet’s calf also left an open, unclean and slowly bleeding cut in the size of Clementine’s hand.

“We’ll take a look when I got that covered” Clementine teared part of her t-shirt off and wrapped it around the wound, fixating it with a tight knot.

“Shit!” Violet pressed through her teeth. 

“I thought it doesn’t hurt that bad?” Clementine tried to joke but if she did that to try to comfort Violet or herself was unknown.

“It doesn’t if no one touches it.” Clementine sighed.

“It should at least keep the wound closed now, until Ruby can treat it.”

“Thanks. Wait, let me help.” Violet got up, ignoring the starting slow pulsing in her leg, when she noticed that Clementine was searching for her crutches. 

“How is it possible that this trap is that close to the school?” She shot Violet a thankful look, when she handed her, her crutches.

“No clue. Aasim was on patrol yesterday and AJ went with Ruby the day before that. Either one or all of them missed it, or the trap was build last night.” Violet made a step towards the hole, carefully looking into it.

“Who was on watch, last night?” Clementine tried to take a look into the hole, too.

“Willy. What the actual fuck?” Violet couldn’t believe what she was looking at. 

“Pikes… If you hadn’t been able to grab onto that root…“ Violet nodded slowly.

“Yeah…Let’s get back. My leg feels like a cheap glow stick. I don’t think it should get that hot, that fast.”  
Clementine worryingly followed Violet, as she started to head back to the school. Seeing her limping and knowing this whole situation could’ve ended so much worse, was agonizing.

“We should have some antibiotics left. Ruby will fix you right up.” Clementine really tried to hide that she was angry. Mostly at herself. 

“There was no way for you to catch me in time, you do know that, don’t you?” Violet looked at Clementine, catching her off guard with what she said. 

“How…?” Violet cut her off. 

“It’s not that difficult to tell. You’re always acting so overly positive when you think you could’ve done more. You couldn’t and I should have watched were I was going. Shit happens. We just need to be more careful.” Clementine sighed again, but managed to smile at least a bit.  
Still the anger wasn’t gone completely. 

“The patrol should take a stick with them to check the path in front of them. That way they can make sure that they are not stepping into a trap. Patrolling will take longer but it’s safer.” Violet smiled back at her. 

“Good idea.” 

\---

They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they reached the gate, some of the others were preparing the courtyard for lunch, while everyone else was probably still at their respective working places. It was AJ who saw them first.  
He welcomed them with a smile but almost immediately noticed Violet’s damaged jeans and the obviously improvised bandage on her leg. 

“You’re hurt! Ruby!” 

“It’s not that bad, AJ.” 

“What’s the ruckus he…Oh god, Vi. What happened?” Ruby had walked over as soon as she had heard AJ shouting. 

“I stepped in a trap, ripped my leg open on a pike.” Ruby waved her over. 

“Come. You can tell me everything while I patch you up.” Violet looked from Ruby to Clementine. 

“Go, I’ll be here when you’re done.” Violet nodded and followed Ruby into the main building. 

“There was a trap?” AJ seemed very bothered by that thought. Clementine grumbled a bit. 

“Yes. Right beside the school, too.”

“Everything OK here? We heard AJ shouting.” Aasim, Christa and Willy came out of the bell tower. 

“No nothing is ok. Violet almost died, because someone failed to notice the stranger that’s going around digging holes and putting pikes in them, right beside the school!” 

“There weren’t any holes when I was on patrol, promise!” Aasim made a step back, when Clementine started shouting. 

“No holes when Ruby and I were outside.” AJ looked at Clementine, a little overwhelmed with the anger in her face. 

“So, that leaves last night as the only time, someone could’ve made that trap…” Clementine glared at Willy. 

“I didn’t see anything, if I had I would've told you!” He really didn’t know what to do or how to react to Clementine, that was more then obvious for everyone involved. 

“How can you fail to notice someone sneaking around the school!? It’s the one thing you are supposed to look for and you failed! It’s just dumb luck Violet only cut her leg open! She could’ve been dead, do you understand that?!” Her eyes started to tear up while she was shouting at him.  
AJ, not knowing what else to do tried to grab her hand. 

“Clem…Breathe” She sternly looked at him for a second but let him hold her hand. 

“I… I’m s… sorry, Clementine… I… I really didn’t s…see anything.” Willy’s whole body had tensed up under her intense glaring, making it hard for him to get the words out without stumbling over them. 

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, Willy! You fucked up! I fucked up!” Christa finally came forward, laying her hand upon Willy’s shoulder for a second before she pulled Clementine into her arms. 

“I’m sorry.” Clementine’s voice sounded muffled through Christa’s jacket, when she finally spoke again after a long moment of silence. 

“It’s ok. I’m sorry, too. For what happened to Violet.” Willy said quietly. 

“Hey Willy, let’s check if lunch is almost ready.” Aasim gave him a pat on the back to make him walk, so Clementine could be alone with Christa and AJ. 

“Clem?” AJ seemed very worried. She looked at him, trying to smile but failed to do so.

“It’s ok , goofball.”

“You’re lying. Lying is bad.” Clementine took a deep breath.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Do you feel better now?” Clementine managed a half smile.

“No. But I will, ok? Don’t worry.” AJ wasn’t happy with that answer, at all.

“Would you go and see how Violet is doing? Please?” She added then. AJ stood there for a second before he nodded reluctantly.

“Ok, Clem.”

“Thank you.” AJ shot her one more look, before walking over to the main building.

“Come, sit with me for a moment, would you?” Christa walked over to a table and sat down, waiting for Clementine to do the same.

“I lost it for a second there, I know.” Clementine said after placing her crutches onto her side and sitting down on the other side of the table.

“Everyone would lose it for a moment in that situation and you owned up to it. I don’t think that Willy doesn’t understand that.” 

“It’s just… I need to be able to be calm in these situations. I need to prevent things like that from happening.” Clementine sat there gesturing desperately not knowing what to do and where to go with the chaos in her head. 

“Clementine, you can’t and you know that. You’re scared and that’s ok. I would be more worried about you if you weren’t, to be honest.  
You just need to learn that you can’t be a hero all the time. Blaming yourself for things you had no control over will tear you apart, trust me.” Christa laid one hand on one of Clementine’s, trying to reassure her at least a little bit, but she looked sad herself.

“You still miss him, don’t you?” Clementine looked at her.

“Every day.”

“I miss him, too. He always made me laugh.” Christa smiled but the sadness hadn’t left yet.

“That’s how Omid was, never completely serious and it made me so mad sometimes, but I also loved him for it.”

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned him.” Christa shook her head.

“It’s ok. Thinking about him makes me sad but I’m also happy to know that he will be remembered. And I learned to accept that what happened wasn’t my fault.  
And before you even dare to think it: It sure as hell wasn’t yours. Which also applies to what happened with Violet today. Not your fault.” Clementine took a deep breath, silently squeezing Christa’s hand for a moment.

“Guess you’re right, it’s just… “ Christa interrupted her. 

“… not that easy to accept that. You will get there. It takes time, you just need to keep it in mind, ok?” Clementine nodded.

“OK.” Christa smiled and looked around for a moment.

“Look who’s back.” She said as she saw Violet stepping out of the main building accompanied by AJ, who ran over to her. 

“Ruby gave Vi stitches! It was really gross and Ruby said that it hurts really bad but Vi was really cool, she didn’t even flinch!” He seemed super excited.

“AJ, could you chill down for a second? It wasn’t that exciting.” Violet rolled her eyes smiling when she caught up to him. Clementine made space on the bench so Violet could take a seat.

“He’s so excited and he just can’t hide it” Christa sang laughingly.  
Clementine looked over to her, fully confused, while Violet smirked a little bit.

“I’m sorry, time to get my old ass in motion to help setting up for lunch.” Christa laughed, while already standing up.

“Alright. Thank you.” Clementine said after shaking of the confusion.

“Of course.” She winked at her and left.

“What did Ruby say? About your leg, I mean.” Clementine turned to Violet.

“Like I said, wasn’t that bad. She cleaned it, stitched it up and bandaged it. She gave me pills for the next three days and in a week or two, depending on how it heals, she will remove the stitches again. No problem at all.” She smiled.

“She’s not trying to play it off, is she?” Clementine looked to AJ who shook his head.

“Nope, that’s what Ruby said.”

“I can’t tell if that’s true or if you two are just working together on this.” Violet chuckled and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“It’s ok, I promise.” Clementine didn’t look like she fully believed them but decided to let it go for now.

“We need to be more careful. Maybe putting more people on watch at night” She then said.

“We can check the plans after lunch. See who can do it. We have to go through the paperwork anyway.”

“The papers are boring!” AJ complained.

“I told you that you don’t need to be there when we work in the office.” Clementine looked at him.

“But I want to know what you guys are planning.” Clementine smiled but shook her head slightly.

“I can tell you what we planned when we’re done. I’m sure Dan or one of the others could need your help more and you wouldn’t be bored.”

“Really?”

“Yea, really. Would be a huge help for us too, since more people working means the work gets done faster.” 

“OK. I can do that.”

“Lunch is ready!” Omar’s voice echoed over the courtyard.

“Yes! Lunch. I’m so hungry!” Clementine laughed.

“Go, we catch up with you.”

\---

Clementine had moved the office outside early the next day. Sitting in the room by herself just staring at the plans really wasn’t her thing at all and being out here, made her feel more like she was working alongside the others.  
She had followed the progress of the forge, which was coming along great, after Christa, Aasim and Willy had brought Dan some more bricks to complete the fire proving.  
Violet had gone over to the greenhouse to help there and from where Clementine was standing, she had a good view of Kent and Kevin who were helping Aasim to build a scaffold for the work on the bell tower, since Willy had other work to do.  
The rest of the group had spread out to either check outside or to work on various minor things that had to be done. 

She stopped burying her nose in the plans for a second to stretch. Her balance training also started to show results, as she was able to stand and stretch, just balancing on her right leg, without needing to rely on the crutches.

“Clementine?” She turned to the voice.

“Hey Christa.”

“Do you have a minute?” She smiled at her.

“Sure. Do you need something?”

“I think you’re the one who needs something. That’s why I wanted to give you a gift.” Christa grabbed something out of the back pocket of her jeans, presenting it to Clementine.

“A gun?” She definitely was surprised.

“Not just a gun. It’s a .22 caliber revolver. I thought you could use it more then I do. I carried it more as an reassurance then a weapon and I figured maybe it could fulfill that purpose for you, too.” Christa handed the revolver over to Clementine.

“It’s heavy.”

“That’s why it feels reassuring. For me at least.” Clementine examined the weapon for a while, testing how it behaved in her hand, how good of a grip she had on it and if she would be able to aim properly when using it.  
It definitely was a good gun.

“I can see why it made you feel better carrying it.”

“I want you to have it. If you want it, that is.” Clementine nodded thankfully.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I have some rounds left for it, too. I get th…” Christa was cut off by loud crashing sound.  
The scaffold Kent, Kevin and Aasim had spent building the whole day had came down.

“What the fuck, Aasim!?” Kent shouted.

“What are you shouting at me for? It’s not my fault!”

“You were supposed to secure the beams, so this shit wouldn’t happen!” He looked over to Kevin who seemed to be in pain.

“Everything ok?” Kevin gestured to not worry but something was wrong with him, no matter how hard he tried to deny it.

“One of the metal bars hit my shoulder but it’s ok. Shit happens.”

“That shit wasn’t supposed to happen but someone fucked up!” Kent turned back to Aasim.

“Stop shouting dude! I did secure it. I have no fucking clue why it crashed!”

“Bet you didn’t do it like I told you to! You’re always trying to find short cuts! I remind you of this stupid idea you had yesterday with the heating system, smart-ass!”

“Guys! Can you calm down for a second? Both of you?” Clementine came over, accompanied by Christa. 

“I didn’t start shouting. He was.” Aasim looked at Clementine obviously pissed. 

“Sorry, but I’m so done with his shit. Did he tell you about his idea for a open fire in the green house, because it would be easier to build than the indirect heating system Kevin and I had planned? So everything inside it burns to a crisp, including his own fucking girlfriend?” Clementine furrowed her eyebrows. 

“I just asked if that wouldn’t be easier and faster and I didn’t say anything about an uncontrolled fire in the middle of it!”

“What the hell is happening here? ” Violet and Ruby had made their way over to check what the screaming was about.

“The scaffold crashed.” Christa said. 

“And Kent blames me for it!” Aasim turned to them.

“Maybe you did miss something.” He turned back to Clementine.

“Are you on his side now?”

“I’m just saying. I’m on nobody’s side here.”

“Yeah you sure aren’t. Why don’t you yell at me like you did with Willy yesterday?” He glared at her. Getting more and more pissed as time went on. 

“That was a totally different thing and I apologized. You’re mad and I get that. I’m just trying to find out what happened.”

“Then maybe ask him if he made a mistake instead of me. Thanks for the trust, Clem. Stupid bitch!” He spat the insult out. 

“Hey! Calm down, asshole! She didn’t insult you, didn’t she?” Violet stepped forward. 

“Of course. Violet taking a stance as soon as it involves Clementine.”

“Fuck you, Aasim!” Over the loud fight, everybody had failed to notice Louis and Ashley who were trying to get their attention for a while now.  
It needed a loud and shrill whistle from Louis to get the group to stop shouting and finally turn to them.

“What was that for?” Clementine looked at them. Ashley started signing, too fast for any of the Ericson residents to follow but Christa understood.

“She says something is wrong in the main building. Something about weird stains on the stairs and the office door is open.” As soon as Christa finished talking, everyone’s face turned into the same worrying, anxious expression.

“Weren’t you two in there the whole time?” Ashley nodded.

“Yes, but they were by the piano and Louis played on it. They couldn’t see or hear anything from the lobby.” Christa translated again.

“Christa and I can go and check.” Violet proposed. Clementine nodded.

“I go with you.” As the three women made their way to the main building the rest of the group just stayed back, watching them until they closed the doors behind them.

They slowly walked up to the stairs, looking around for anything that could be suspicious.

“There, the stains Ashley mentioned.” Violet pointed at some dark stains on the carpet, but given the bad condition of it, it was hard to tell what these stains were, just by looking at it.  
Christa bend down, swiping her fingers over them and showing them to the others.

“I hope that’s red paint.” She said.

“Shit…” Clementine shot Violet a worried look, before the three of them moved on. When they arrived at the office, there was no doubt that somebody had been in there.  
Or maybe still was.  
Clementine looked at Christa, while trying to get herself balanced before she pulled the revolver out, gesturing her to take it.  
Violet armed herself with her meat cleaver.  
Clementine then waited for both of them to nod, before she used one of her crutches to push the door open.  
Christa was the first in the room but Violet was the first to react to what they had found.  
“No! Omar!” Christa immediately pulled Violet into her arms to make her look away. Clementine still looked at it, trying to stay calm despite the big clump forming in her throat she desperately tried to swallow.  
On the desk, in full view laid Omar’s head and nothing more.  
Blood still dripped from the edges of the table, barely visible due to the dark wood the desk was made of.


	4. I'll only hurt you if you let me

Clementine had to force herself to look away from the horrible scene in front of her.   
She exchanged a short glance with Christa before she gently touched Violet’s back, making her turn around.   
Clementine had hoped never having to see this grief in Violet’s face ever again but in this world, so she thought to herself, that obviously was a really stupid thing to hope for.   
She wrapped her arms around Violet, pulling her into a tight embrace, letting her bury her face into her shoulder.   
Again Clementine exchanged a glance with Christa, mirroring each other’s worried expressions while Violet silently cried. It took some time for her to work through her emotions and the shock but eventually, she raised her head back up.

“Do you want to wait outside?” Clementine still held her in a loose embrace. Violet shook her head slowly.

“No. I need to do this with you.” Clementine acknowledged that with a short nod and broke the embrace up. Violet wiped her face with her sleeve before she took a deep breath. They turned back to the table in unison.

“That placement isn’t accidental” Christa looked around the room.

“No, it’s definitely a message of some sort.” Clementine went to take a closer look, still feeling the large lump in her throat that just refused to go away. It was difficult to tell if there were more injuries in his face, by all the dark blood covering his head and face.

“Could you… “ Violet pointed to her eyes, then to Omar’s remains and went back to crossing her arms in front of her chest and looking at the floor. Without needing to think about it Clementine wiped over Omar’s vacant, milky eyes to close them.

“This is so fucked up…I swear if we find out who did this shit I… “ Violet’s whole body trembled. Clementine still examined the head in hope to find some clues about the culprit.

“Something is sticking out between his lips” Clementine’s voice came out in a slight husk as she realized what she had to do to get to whatever it was that was stuck there.

“Nothing else is changed here. Besides that it smells bad everywhere” Christa said, joining Violet and Clementine at the table.

“So getting whatever is stuck there is our only chance for a clue.” Clementine took a moment to examine the head a little bit further until she had found what she was looking for.

“There is a knife wound,” She said.

“He won’t turn then…And not bite you” Violet seemed a little calmer now.

“Yeah… “ Clementine muttered while trying to get a good hold of Omar’s jaw.

“I’m sorry…” She added in an almost inaudible whisper, as she forced his mouth open to pull the unknown object out of it.

“What is it?” Christa tried to make out what Clementine had in her hand.

“A playing card.”

“Jack of Spades,” Violet commented. Clementine turned the card around, to find that someone had written on it. She looked at Violet and Christa, holding the card up, so they could see the in bolt black written words.

**HEADS-UP**

“What the fuck?! Does this Bastard think he’s funny?!” Clementine tried to calm Violet down by touching her arm, which helped a little bit.

“I don’t know. But it does not help us to find out who it was. We need to find out where Omar was the last time someone saw him and who was with him.” She then said.

“We need to tell the others what happened anyway…” Violet sighed, letting her shoulders hang lower than usual.

“You two go. I take care of Omar.” Christa offered to which Clementine agreed with a short nod.

“Thank you.” Violet waited for Clementine to get going before she budged, giving Christa a thankful look while walking out.

“Do you think one of us did it?” Violet sounded so sad that it let Clementine’s heart sank.

“As hard as it sounds but… That is what makes the most sense, isn’t it?” Clementine wished she hadn’t had to say it, but she had already figured that Violet would mention it.

“I don’t think one of _us_ would do something like this.” That was the second thing Clementine had waited for her to say.

“We shouldn’t start blaming anyone, for now, Vi. I know it’s fucked up but we need to keep an open mind about it. Can you do that?” Clementine stopped at the foot of the stairs. She needed to be sure that she and Violet were on the same page, before leaving the building.   
Violet narrowed her eyebrows, opening her mouth for a second before she just grumbled and slowly breathed in and out again.

“Yes. I can.”

“I know that you're angry. I’m too. But we will make it through this. We just need to be smart about it.” Clementine smiled a little bit, trying to reassure Violet that everything will be ok again.

“Ok. Let’s just get going, before I change my mind and lock myself into our room.” Violet shot Clementine a very crooked smile.

“If you start to think you can’t anymore, just look at me, ok? And breathe.” Clementine said. Violet nodded and together they left the building.  
In the meantime everyone had met at the outside stairs to the main door, waiting for someone to tell them what was going on. When Clementine and Violet stepped out, the murmuring stopped almost immediately.

“Where is Christa?” Kent stepped forward.

“Christa is fine. She’s still in the office” Violet grumbled a bit.

“So what happened?” Aasim narrowed his eyebrows, obviously knowing that something was very wrong.

“The stains were blood. When we stepped into the office we found Omar. Someone murdered him.” Clementine stated with a firm voice, looking over every face in the crowd as she said it, trying to not miss any expression that could possibly reveal the culprit to her.   
But all she saw where shocked faces and all she heard were the sounds of grief when some of them started crying.   
Clementine’s eyes met Louis’ for a moment, who just looked at her with utter disbelief while holding a crying Ashley in his arms.   
She saw Aasim trying to comfort Ruby, Willy shaking furiously while AJ tried his best to keep him from bursting out, Kevin placing a hand on Kent’s shoulder who just stood there, seemingly not knowing what he should do with that information.

“I hate to be that guy, but you found him inside these walls. So whoever it was… “ Dan looked over the crowd.

“Are you fucking crazy? None of _us_ would murder Omar!” Willy stepped in front of him.

“Are you trying to say that one of _us_ would?!” Kent barked.

“Guys…” Violet came forward a bit but remained ignored.

“I said what I said!” Willy didn’t budge, not even an inch when Kent walked towards him.

“ **For fuck's sake, everybody shut up and calm the fuck down, asap. Just listen to Clem for a damn moment!** ” Violet shouted as loud as she could, automatically drawing all eyes on her with it. Clementine waited a moment so everyone really listened.

“I know that all of you want to know who did it. I do, too. But blaming one another won’t help.”

“I wasn’t… “ Kent was interrupted by Kevin just patting his shoulder and shaking his head.   
Clementine waited again for a moment so she could make sure that everyone stayed silent.

“We will find out who did this. But we need to work together. I need to know where Omar was when he was last seen and who he was with.” She looked over the crowd again.   
Everyone looked at each other to see who would step forward first. In the end, it was Ashley that did.   
She slowly came up the stairs, her eyes still watering and red. She pulled a little notebook out of her pockets and began scribbling into it.

“So he went out early today. Was someone with him?” Clementine looked up from the piece of paper she had handed her. Ashley shook her head.

“Did someone see Omar coming back?” Murmuring rose in the crowd but died down as quickly as it came. Clementine just saw heads shaking.

“He never went out that far. He did it every other day, looking for herbs or mushrooms. He was always back when I finished working in the greenhouse” Ruby said between her sobbing. Clementine looked at Violet.

“Maybe someone outside came in… “ Violet said slowly.

“But from where and without us noticing?” Aasim seemed distraught by the thought a stranger might have been able to roam around.   
Clementine thought about it for a moment.

“The hole!”

“The hole?” Several of them asked in unison.

“The hole in the back of the school. The one we wanted to close off?” Clementine looked over the crowd.

“But walkers are roaming around back there, how would you manage to get a body and yourself through them without getting attacked?” Dan was obviously confused.

“Walker guts,” AJ said.

“Walker What-now, son?” Dan furrowed his eyebrows looking at him.

“Walker guts. You smear them all over you, so the monsters can’t tell you’re there.” He said.

“That explains all the blood on him” Clementine muttered more to herself than to anyone in particular.

“It did smell nasty in there and Christa mentioned it, too,” Violet said agreeing with the theory.

“Maybe it was the stranger. You know the one digging all the holes” AJ seemed eager to find out who killed his friend.

“Maybe. We need to be very cautious from now on. Nobody goes anywhere alone. It’s too dangerous” Clementine ordered.

“I go where I want when I want”

“Stop bitching, Kent” Violet barked at him.

“I have an eye on him. Don’t worry, Vi.” Kevin smiled. She nodded thankfully.

“Vi and I go to prepare the funeral. Everyone that wants to help can come to me and the rest of you should get some time for yourselves. We will call you when everything is ready.” Everyone agreed in various ways. Some nodded, some said something quietly and left with someone else, already following Clementine’s new rule.

“Willy, should we get the shovels from the greenhouse?” Aasim asked him. He nodded and trotted off with him.   
When everyone was gone or sitting in a group on one of the benches, AJ came up to Clementine and Violet.

“I want to help with the funeral.” Clementine raffled his hair.

“Thought so, kiddo. Let’s go then.”

\--------------------------------

“Clem, are you sure that this is a good idea?” Violet looked around, barely able to see further than two rows of trees into the woods that surrounded the pathway they were walking on.

“I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. Not after what happened today. We turn around soon, promise. I just want to see if we can find anything that could tell us what really happened. Ruby said Omar never went too far out.” Clementine said while scanning her surroundings for anything suspicious.

“I can’t see shit, to be honest” Violet looked at the sky. Clouds were blocking the already not so bright moonlight. Clementine sighed.

“Yea I know. But we already lost so much time with the funeral, I don’t want to miss any clues.”

“Doing the funeral as soon as possible was our only option” Violet stopped for a moment listening into the woods.

“Did you hear anything?” Clementine looked at her.

“I thought I did. Maybe just a rabbit or something.” Violet shrugged.

“The whole day was a shit show,” Clementine said after some moments of silently looking around.

“I was very pissed about Aasim’s comment about me. Felt like Marlon all over again, but after we found Omar…” Violet crossed her arms “…That really changes your point of view about everything, seeing something like that. I mean what happened to Louis back then was bad, but…” She shrugged again.

“It does. It changes you. Every time you see something like that, it changes something in you” Clementine’s voice was barely more than a whisper.   
Right as Violet opened her mouth to speak, something hit the tree behind them with a loud bang.   
When Clementine looked down to the ground, she found the stone that barely missed her head.

“What the…?” She turned to the side of the woods she suspected the stone had come from and saw a shadow vanishing into the woods.   
She wanted to shout after the person but firstly: that wouldn’t have been a good idea and secondly: Violet interrupted her trail of thought anyway.

“Clem, we have a problem.” She said as she armed herself with her meat cleaver. Clementine looked over to her.

“One, two, three, four, five… How many are there?” She watched the walkers stumbling out of the woods.

“I have no fucking idea. There are more coming out behind us.” Violet moved closer to Clementine.

“We can’t fight them all.” Clementine looked around, trying to orientate herself.

“Any other ideas?”

“I hate to say this, but the barn is close by.” Clementine sighed.

“Not a huge fan of that idea but the best thing we got now, come on.” Violet let Clementine set the pace since she was handicapped with her crutches and stayed close by her side.   
They encountered a walker halfway down the path to the barn that was too close to ignore, so Violet had no choice other than to get rid of him. As usual, when her cleaver got stuck in a walkers head, she kicked him to release it.

“Ah fuck!” She groaned.

“What’s wrong?” Clementine was immediately worried.

“I think the stitches ripped open. It’s ok. Just keep going.” Clementine nodded as Violet already moved again while trying to keep an eye out for more walkers and for Clementine.   
When the barn finally was in sight, the two young women looked on in shock. Their path to relative safety was blocked by a herd and going back wasn’t an option anymore either.

“Fuck…”

“Vi… “ Clementine looked at her, already knowing what she planned to do.

“Stay close to me. They’re spread out a bit, so it’s not that bad” If Violet tried to make herself feel better about the situation or if she did it for Clementine, it wasn’t really clear.

“No, I can’t let you do that.” Clementine’s voice already cracked.

“There is no other choice. I need to do this if we want to even have a chance of surviving this shit.” Clementine knew that Violet was right but she wished otherwise.

“Alright…” She reached behind her back, where she kept the revolver Christa had gifted to her “…this won’t make it any worse then it already is, I guess.” Violet nodded and sprinted forwards, trying to clear a path they would be able to go through to the Barn door.   
Clementine shot a walker but got caught off guard by the knockback of the revolver, that almost sent her onto the ground.

“Everything ok?” Violet shouted while kicking a walker that got too close for her liking.

“Yes, stay focused!” Clementine shouted back. While their fight for the path was going on, the walkers behind them slowly closed in.

“Clem, watch behind you!” Clementine turned around and positioned her crutches to support her as fast as she could and was able to shoot another walker that had crept up behind her just in time.   
Violet had managed to thin out the herd somewhat when Clementine turned around again, but not quite enough so that the two of them would make it through. Clementine prepared herself to shoot a walker in the herd but missed it when it stumbled over one of the dead walkers, landing right beside Violet’s feet.   
While Violet wrestled with the Walker right in front of her, she noticed the rotting fingers grabbing her leg, a little too late.   
Clementine wasn’t able to move at all while watching the situation unfold.   
It was as if the world stopped turning and just froze over, keeping her stuck in place, forcing her to watch how Violet screamed in pain, pushing the Walker in front of her back, to send her cleaver into the head of the Walker that sunk its teeth into her leg.   
As she shook it off her leg, her eyes met Clementine’s for a second, but there wasn’t enough time for Clementine to try to figure out what Violet felt now as more Walkers had closed in from behind.

“Clem, behind you!” Violet already sprinted into her direction, before Clementine could’ve even reacted to the warning.   
But it was too late for any reaction whatsoever anyway. One of the Walkers stumbled right into Clementine, sending her onto the ground, face first, with the walker on her back.  
The next thing she saw, was Violet’s feet right beside her, close enough for her to see the blood from her old wound dripping on to the dirt.   
She felt the weight of the walker lifted from her and heard sharp steel splitting the decayed skull. As she tried to turn onto her back, she wished she hadn’t.   
She always had hoped not to see what she was about to witness. Another Walker had crept up behind Violet and bit into her shoulder before Clementine even had the chance to open her mouth for a warning.   
Violet’s scream of pain ringed in her ears, as she got herself up, with the help of one of her crutches to drive her knife into the skull of the walker so Violet was able to shake him off.   
Again their eyes met for a moment but Clementine was now able to interpret her expression. It was a mix of deep sadness and an apologetic smile that just quite didn’t make it onto her lips.   
But Violet said nothing. She just tightened her grip around the handle of her meat cleaver and went back to the rest of the herd still blocking the barn.   
Clementine had trouble to grasp what happened, she refused to understand it, to face what it meant.   
She picked up her other crutch along with her revolver and followed Violet through the herd, watching her relentlessly hacking into the Walkers, shoving them to the sides.   
The sounds of her weapon splitting rotting bones, faded out into a distorted static in Clementine’s ears. Everything became a blur until they had reached the inside of the barn and had managed to shut the door. Clementine couldn’t even tell if Violet had been bitten a third time or more while fighting and she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to know it.   
Violet barricaded everything as good as she could, before letting herself sink onto a hay bale.

“You should tear down this fucking death trap as soon as possible” Violet said after a long moment of just walker grunts and banging on the door and walls. Clementine dropped her crutches, getting onto her knees in front of Violet, looking up to her.

“I’m so sorry, Vi…” Her voice cracked, tears streaming down her face, she tried to get to stop by closing her eyes. She felt gentle fingers wiping away the tears, making her look at Violet again.

“It’s not your fault. Someone out there is out to get us and the others need you to survive it. Shits fucked for me, but…” Violet shrugged, trying to play it off, but Clementine knew she was scared of the inevitable. So fucking scared.

“What they really need is you. You protected me out there and all I did was dragging you down with me…I mean look at me, I’m a cripple.” Violet scoffed, followed by a cough she was barely able to get under control in a timely manner.

“Fuck… No, you’re not. You’re the leader for a reason. Even with one leg, you’re a beast, Clem. I watched you working so hard to get your abilities back, pushing yourself so far you spent the rest of the day throwing up because you exhausted yourself so much. You're relentless, strong and smart, never forget that. Lead them, and then get the sick fuck that’s messing with us. Make him pay. But to do that you need to get out of here” Violet looked at her with a stern expression.   
More tears streamed down Clementine’s face while she processed what Violet had said. She believed in her, even now, after what happened to her and knowing how it would end for her. She still had unbroken faith in her. It showed how far she had come since she first met this girl that had been haunted by trust and abandonment issues and now that she finally had overcome them, they landed here. Making this situation so much more unbearable for Clementine.

“We only have two options. Waiting long enough or getting hold of a dead walker.” Clementine said after she had managed to calm herself down a little. She needed to stay strong for Violet.

“You. I’m not going anywhere anymore.” Violet coughed again.

“I’m not going to leave you here…” Violet cut Clementine off.

“I know, ok? I don’t want to turn. I don’t want to feel what this shit does with my brain before I’m gone. So… “ Violet shrugged again and Clementine knew exactly what she meant.   
There was no way to save her. The second bite had decided her fate.  
Clementine reached for one of her crutches to slowly get up, grabbing her revolver with the other hand. She slowly breathed in and out again.

“I can’t… “ She whispered, crying.

“I would do it myself but… “ Violet tried to lift her arm, but nothing much happened “… I can’t feel it anymore.” Clementine shook her head, closing her eyes to force the tears out that were blurring her vision, before aiming at Violet’s head.

“I can’t…Not again”

“Clem, please.” Violet’s voice started to sound like someone spoke through a pipe, echoing into Clementine’s ear.   
A familiar dark raspy voice in the back of her head drowned the voice of her girlfriend under the repeating of ‘You have to do it’ over and over again. Her hands tightened around the revolver. Slowly pulling the trigger.

“Clem… Clem… “ She heard Violet repeat endlessly, calling her from far away.

“Clementine!” Violet almost fell out of the bed, when Clementine finally shot up, snapping out of her nightmare.

“Shit, everything’s ok? I almost wasn’t able to wake you up.” Violet looked at her with a worried expression. Clementine needed a moment to get control over herself again after waking up.   
She turned to Violet, staring at her for some awkward seconds before she started to check her for bites.

“Uh… Clem?... Babe?” Violet reached for Clementine’s shoulders and pushed her away a bit, so she could see her face “… Hey, stop that for a second. What’s wrong? Are you crying?” Clementine just looked at her, tears streaming down her face like Violet never had seen before.   
She pulled her into a tight embrace, while Clementine almost desperately grabbed onto her t-shirt.   
They stayed like this for a while until Violet couldn’t hear her cry anymore. Clementine pulled away a bit, looking so unbelievably sad, that Violet didn’t really know what to say.   
Instead, she gently wiped the trails of her tears away, before opening her mouth.

“I know it’s normally not your thing but… Do you want to talk about it?” Violet was right, normally Clementine kept everything to herself, only scratching the surface of the things she went through when she spoke about it but after this nightmare? Maybe it was time to speak up about herself.   
She placed her makeshift pillow against the wall and seated herself, leaning her back against it.

“We were outside, looking for clues to find out who murdered Omar. It was dark and suddenly someone threw a stone at us. Walkers swarmed us and we fled to the barn but…” The familiar lump in her throat formed again, forcing her to pause.

“So someone sent them? Like James did?” Violet looked at her waiting for her to continue. She nodded.

“Yea but I think my mind just placed that there. I don’t think that James is involved in any way.” Violet placed herself cross-legged right beside Clementine.

“Still a strange thought.” Violet didn’t want to push Clementine to resume talking about her nightmare but her impatience showed through, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.   
Clementine reached for her hand, holding it tight in her own before she took a deep breath to continue.

“Okay…So, we arrived at the barn but a herd blocked the door. They were spread out a bit and you decided to make a path to the door, you fought so hard and I tried to help but… I missed a shot and you got bitten…” Clementine looked over to her, tears forming in her eyes again. Violet squeezed her hand a bit but didn’t say a word.

“I got pushed over by a walker behind me. You came to protect me and another walker jumped you and…” Clementine tried to swallow the lump in her throat again, but it had no use.

“I’m here. It was just a nightmare.” Clementine nodded slowly.

“I know but when we were in the barn… You didn’t want to turn and I…” Violet understood without Clementine needing to conclude the story.

“You told us you had to shoot him. Lee was his name?” Clementine nodded again.

“I will never forget that.”

“You did call it the worst day of your life. How you repeated ‘I can’t’ over and over again right before I woke you up… That gave me the chills and I didn’t even knew what was going on.” Violet said. Clementine stayed silent for a moment, thinking.

“Can we go and sit outside? I need fresh air” She then said. Violet nodded.

“Sure.” It didn’t take them long to get ready and head outside. As they stepped out of the building, they were greeted by Rosie.   
They had tied her to one of the columns in front of the door to make sure nobody would sneak in.   
Before Clementine sat down, she untied her, placed herself onto the stairs and whistled for Rosie to come to her, after she had sprinted across the courtyard for a while.   
Violet sat down in a way that Rosie could lay between them. Aasim was on watch accompanied by Kevin and both waved down to the girls, making them wave back.   
The two young women were silent for a while. Clementine scratched Rosie’s head, lost in deep thought and Violet just looked into the sky, waiting for her girlfriend to start talking.

“Lee was the one who found me when all of this started, he taught me how to survive… “ As Clementine started to reminisce her past to Violet, the words just kept coming. She had buried all the things she went through so deep into her, that it was like a dam had burst when she finally opened up.   
Violet sat there, silent, just listening to her, letting her get everything out, what she needed to tell her.   
“… and that’s when I was the only one left that could take care of AJ. And I didn’t know where to go. I never knew where to go. I just kept going until I…” Clementine was interrupted when Rosie shot up and started growling. Violet looked over to where Rosie was looking.

“I think she heard or smelled something,” Violet said. Clementine stood up.

“Aasim, Kevin, can you see anything?” She called. Both of them took a look around.

“No nothing. It’s too dark.” Aasim called back, while Kevin came down from the watchpoint.

“What’s the fuss about anyway?” He asked.

“Rosie growled at something,” Violet explained to him.

“Maybe a Walker came to close to the walls.” Kevin looked at them. Clementine shook her head.

“Rosie wouldn’t react that way just for a stray Walker. Could you accompany her and Violet and find out what made her so nervous?” Kevin nodded.

“Sure. You're ready?” He turned to Violet.

“No time to be anything else than ready,” She said while arming herself with her cleaver. Kevin went to the gate to open it.   
Clementine looked at Rosie and with a shrill whistle, the Dog shot through the gate into the night, forcing Kevin and Violet to sprint after her.

“I can’t see shit, where is she?” Violet tried to find Rosie but it seemed like she lost her.

“Good thing that I came prepared” Kevin grinned while switching on the flashlight he carried around whenever he was on watch.

“Don’t flatter yourself too much, ok?” Violet had tilted her head slightly while looking at him.

“Yes, Ma’am” He grinned while scanning the woods and the ground with the flashlight. “There. Pawprints” He added. They didn’t need to follow the trail for long when they heard barking, growling and the scream of a man.   
When they arrived at the source of the sounds Rosie stood on top of the back of a stranger, teeth on his neck.

“Don’t move!” Kevin said firmly after drawing his pistol, aiming at him. Violet whistled, making Rosie come over to her.

“Good girl. We should take him with us” She said to Kevin, who nodded. He walked over to him, forcing him onto his feet with one swift pull.

“Hands on your back!” The man complied and Kevin held his arms back, continued to threaten him with the gun to the back of his head all while pushing him forward. As they arrived back at the gate Clementine already stood a bit outside.

“Aasim! We need some rope!” She called to him, making him leave the watchpoint to do what he was asked to.   
Violet cut the duffel bag off of the stranger he was carrying around his shoulders to check what was inside it.

“I guess we found the guy that made the traps” She pulled a shovel out of the bag, as well as some small pikes.

“Seems like he used all of the bigger ones already,” Kevin growled. Aasim came back and handed him the rope.

“Get him into the basement and tie him up there. I have a lot of questions for him.” Clementine said in a dark, husky tone, glaring at the stranger, as Kevin pushed him into the general direction of the basement.


	5. All the good girls go to hell

When Clementine arrived in the basement, Kevin had tied the stranger to a chair, like she had asked him to.

"Did he say something, while you tied him up?" Kevin shook his head.

"No, nothing. Didn't even make a sound" He stepped aside so she could look at the stranger. She took some time to inspect him, to maybe find some clues in his appearance but what she saw wasn't anything she had expected to see when looking at the man that had terrorized them.  
She had expected that he would be aggressive or in fear or something. But he just sat there staring blankly into the void.

"Who are you?" She moved closer but got no reaction from him at all. He stayed silent, still staring past her. While contemplating what to do, Clementine resumed examining him. Average height and build but definitely not malnourished. This guy wasn't on his own, she could tell that much.

"Where are your people?" She moved closer once again but not even a flinch.

"Doesn't look like he wants to talk, Clementine." Kevin looked at her.

"Seems like it." Clementine crossed her arms, balancing herself on one of her crutches.

"I could try to make him talk. You just need to say it." Kevin looked at the stranger, narrowing his eyebrows. The Stranger remained stoic until Clementine's fist hit him square in the face, that's when he looked at her the first time since she had come down here.

"I ask you again: Who are you?" Clementine said in a darkened tone but still didn't get an answer. Another of her punches hit his face, splitting his lips open. All he did was spitting the blood onto the floor in front of them, remaining silent otherwise.

"Maybe he can't talk?" Kevin looked at Clementine, who just raised an eyebrow. "Was just a thought" he added, raising his hands in an apologetic gesture. 

"We need something to make him talk." Clementine watched the stranger closely, but he didn't react to anything they were saying. The only thing they managed to change, was him looking at them now. 

"Something specific in mind?" Clementine thought about it for a moment, before answering Kevin. 

"Let's see what we have down here" Clementine started to arrange her crutches so she could go and take a look, but Kevin gestured for her to stop. 

"I have an idea. Let me go get it." 

"Fine with me." She said, turning back to the stranger. When Kevin got back, he held pliers in his hand. 

"Maybe some dental work will help him remember his name." He moved closer to the stranger. 

"I would've chosen something more of the blunt kind." Clementine wasn't a big fan of the pliers. 

"Ah come on. Hitting him didn't do anything. Maybe after two or three teeth, he's a little bit more cooperative." He turned back to Clementine. But before she could say anything the stranger shot up from his chair, grabbed the gun Kevin carried in the holster on his waist and held him, hostage, holding the gun right to his temple.  
Clementine held her hands up as good as she could, without losing her balance.

"Let him go." The stranger shook his head and gestured for her to sit on the chair on her left, pointing the gun at her briefly, before going back to pressing it against Kevin's head. Slowly, Clementine seated herself on the chair. 

"There. You're happy now? You won't be able to get out of the school anyway" Clementine looked at him with a stern expression. The Stranger exchanged a glance with Clementine, right before he pushed Kevin into the chair she was sitting in, sending them both onto the floor.  
He proceeded to pull a card out of his jacket, tossing it over to them. 

"The game has begun" His voice was calm and relaxed as he pressed the gun under his own jaw. Grinning wildly at Kevin and Clementine, he pulled the trigger without hesitation. His body immediately dropped to the ground.  
Kevin was the first to move. 

"You alright?" He got back on his feet, offering her a helping hand, which she thankfully accepted. 

"Yes. Thank you" He pulled her back up, as they heard someone entering the basement. Christa and Violet looked around the corner, visibly armed. 

"What the fuck happened here? We heard a gunshot." Violet looked at them and then to the spot she probably expected to see the stranger being tied up, but all she could see would be the spray of blood and chunks of something splattered on the wall, with a dead body on the floor beneath it. 

"He managed to free himself. He forced me to sit down while holding Kevin hostage and when he pushed him into me, he shot himself." Clementine looked at the body. 

"Did he say anything?" Christa seemed a bit tense. 

"The game has begun, right before he pulled the trigger. That's all he said, he didn't say a word until then." Kevin shrugged. 

"Shit. What now?" Violet crossed her arms. Clementine examined the room. 

"He tossed something at us, a card."

"Again with the playing cards?" Christa narrowed her eyebrows. 

"Seems like it..." Clementine mumbled and bent down to pick something up. "... Got it." Violet looked over her shoulder. 

"Five of spades," She said. Clementine turned the card. 

**Who remembers Whack-A-Mole?**

"What is that supposed to mean?" Clementine looked at the others. 

"That's a game. Arcades and Carnivals had these machines called Whack-A-Mole. You were supposed to hit little Moles as soon as they would stick their heads out of the holes in it and if you did it fast you got more points." Christa took the card in her hands to take a closer look. 

"Maybe it's meant to describe him?" Kevin pointed at the body. "I mean as soon as he left the hole he hid in, we captured him" he added. 

"Could be. Someone is playing with us, we definitely have proof of that now and we have no idea who it is but at least we know that it's not just a single person. We need to be prepared and very careful." Clementine turned to the body. 

"So fortifying the school again?" Violet seemed worried. 

"That should be the first thing, yes. Also, we need to finally get the plan to fix that hole in the back, going." Clementine was searching the pockets of the dead body while talking. 

"I will check with Willy and Aasim later if we have enough stuff salvaged to get it going." Violet watched Clementine pulling the boots off the body. 

"It's always the boots..." Clementine mumbled as her fingers reached something that felt like paper. 

"Did you find anything?" Christa tried to see what Clementine had pulled out of the boot. 

"A note." Clementine unfolded the note. 

"Read it" Kevin moved closer to Clementine. 

"Give me a second." She quickly skimmed through the handwritten words to be able to read it fluently to the others. The handwriting was elegant and clean, carefully written so it was easy to read while being unique in the way the capital letters were swung.  
" _Congratulations on finding this note. Reading this should give you time to send the leader of the little library group back to the camp before anything happens there. If you were able to find this note early enough, that is._  
_Also, I would like to talk to the leader of the school group. Personally. Don't worry, you can bring a bodyguard if you want and maybe nobody will get hurt if you show up.  
But if you bring more than one friend or you don't show up at all, despite reading this note? I guarantee somebody will get hurt. I look forward to our meeting. LP._ And whoever wrote this, drew a map under that." Clementine looked at Christa who immediately seemed nervous. 

"Clem, I'm sorry..." She moved from one foot to another. 

"It's ok. I know you would stay, but you need to go and make sure. Just be careful." Clementine tried a smile that only made it halfway onto her lips. Christa nodded and quickly left. Everyone knew that as soon as Christa would leave through the gate, whoever wrote that note, would know that they had found it. 

"I go with you." Clementine shook her head, moving closer to Violet. She placed a hand on her face, pulling her closer to her, so their foreheads touched. She looked her into the eyes. 

"I need you here. I know it's hard for you, but you know that you have to be here for everyone and I need you to watch over AJ. You promised, remember?" Violet tensed up, while Clementine spoke, but that she knew she was right, was obvious. 

"I swear if you don't come back..." Violet grumbled. Clementine huffed a little laugh. 

"I know." Kevin placed a hand on Violet's shoulder. 

"I go with her. She will come back, ok?" He smiled. Violet looked at him and nodded. 

"You'll be sorry if she doesn't" Kevin laughed a bit. 

"Oh, I know. It will be ok. I go and get ready." He patted her on the shoulder once more and then left. 

"I really hate this situation." Violet looked at Clementine again. 

"I'm not a fan either, but we don't know what will happen if I don't go." Violet wrapped her arms around Clementine, pulling her close for a moment.

"I love you," Violet whispered into her ear. 

"I love you, too. We will make it through all that, ok?" Violet nodded. 

"Ok." Clementine smiled slightly and kissed her lovingly before Violet let go of her. 

"Come. Help me get ready."

\-----------------------------

Clementine and Kevin immediately head out when they had managed to find out where the marked spot on the drawn map was located.  
It wasn't that far from the school and from what Violet had said, it was an open space.  
On one hand, since it was near, there was the chance of helping Clementine as soon as it took too much time for her to come back and on the other hand, it just told them that the enemy had no problem with coming close to them. 

"That she had to stay in the school really made Vi mad, or is it just me?" Kevin said after they had walked in silence for a while. Clementine shook her head a bit. 

"That has nothing to do with being mad about needing to stay at the school. She's worried about me and if she would've gone with me, she would've worried about everyone in the school. She's mad about the whole situation if anything."

"I mean I could've stayed in the school, but if that wouldn't have changed anything, I guess there's no need to propose that." Kevin looked at her. 

"I need her there. That way I know the school is safe. And I don't have to worry about AJ." Clementine shot him a crooked smile. 

"You're a real family, huh? The three of you, I mean. The other kids are like family too, I guess. But you, Vi and AJ, that's still a different kind of family." Clementine slowly nodded. 

"Yea. You're right." The topic wasn't exactly one Clementine wanted to talk in detail about. 

"It's nice to see such relationships like yours in this day and age. Sometimes you forget that people can meet each other and learn to love one another like this and that not only blood and death is left." Clementine looked at Kevin. 

"Don't you think that's an odd topic to talk about when we might walk right into a trap?" Kevin shrugged. 

"Was just what I thought about. I would've thought you might like to talk about your family for a bit. As you said, it could be the last chance you have to do that." 

"I like to keep that to myself, but thanks." Clementine narrowed her eyebrows. Kevin sighed. 

"I was told you would say that." Clementine stopped walking and looked at him in confusion. 

"What?" As she said that, Kevin reached for his gun and pistol-whipped her over the head, knocking her out in the process. 

 

When Clementine was able to open her eyes again, everything spun around. She couldn't tell where she was exactly, only that someone had tied her hands together, had thrown her over his shoulder and was carrying her to wherever. She needed a moment to remember what happened. Of course, Kevin had knocked her out, so he had to be the one carrying her. 

"Kevin..." She wanted to shout but her voice came out in a quiet protest. 

"We're almost there." He said. His boots produced the distinctive sound of slightly cracking wood under them. He proceeded to put Clementine’s crutches to the side, that he had carried in his other hand, leaning them against an almost completely destroyed wooden post.  
Clementine tried to make out where she was but as Kevin turned around, the totally burned-out wreck of the Delta ship entered her vision, telling her, her exact location without needing to think about it.  
She heard Kevin pulling something in front of him, which revealed itself to be a chair when he pulled her off of his shoulder and onto the chair in one swift motion. Pain shot up her back but she tried to not let it show, Kevin got rid of the rope around her wrists, but kept her hands in a tight grip, forcing her arms behind the chair-back to tie them together again.  
Then she heard more steps on the pier. Someone walked up behind her, pulling something along with them as wood scratched over wood but when she tried to turn, Kevin grabbed her head and pushed it down, so the only thing she could see was the pier.  
Only out of the corner of her eyes, she saw heavy biker styled boots entering her view, followed by what had to be another chair.  
She heard the chair being placed in front of her, chair-back to the front, followed by the sound of someone sitting down on it.  
If she interpreted the sounds right, there were three of them now.  
Two behind her and the person on the chair. The smooth, slightly smokey voice of a woman disrupted the silence. 

"You can let go of her now." Kevin loosened his grip on Clementine's head, stepping a bit away from her, so she could look up again. 

"Please excuse him. He can be a bit overzealous." Her expression didn't match her friendly tone the same way her grey eyes didn't match her brown skin. 

"Who are you?" 

"My name is Drew. And it's my pleasure to finally meet you, Clem. You made a whole lot of noise in the last few months." Drew crossed her arms and leaned them onto the top of the chair-back, smiling at Clementine. 

"What do you want?" Clementine glared at her while making sure to examine Drew while she could. 

"Didn't I already tell you that?" Drew tilted her head slightly, making the long dark hair resting on her left shoulder fall down her arm in a wave, causing the very shortcutted hair on the other side of her head to stand out even more. 

"And I'm supposed to believe you that you just want to talk?" Drew shrugged. 

"Do you have any other choice?" Clementine just narrowed her eyebrows. She really had no other choice than to sit here and listen and to await whatever may happen after that. 

"Fine. You want to talk, then talk." 

"Oh, but that's no fun. Don't you have any questions? Like: Why are you doing this, Drew? Why did you sacrifice this guy that made those great traps, just to give me a note, Drew? How did you get into the school, Drew? Did he scream when you cut his head off, Drew?" She grinned at Clementine. "And no, he didn't scream, but he looked very surprised about it." She added. 

"You're insane!" Clementine pressed her voice through her teeth, glaring at Drew. 

"I get that a lot. But I prefer creative." Drew smiled. 

"Who would just kill an innocent kid? What did he do to you?!" Clementine didn't know what to think or what to do. She was bound to sit here and listen to this piece of human garbage talking about killing Omar like someone would share a funny anecdote. 

"Well, I would and I did. Also, he didn't do anything to me. You did and I needed him to send a message to you, so." Drew shrugged again. 

"I don't even know you!" Clementine couldn't think of anything she did, that could've warranted such a reaction. 

"You stole my toy," Drew said calmly but it hit Clementine like an ice-cold breeze. 

"What?" 

"The Delta. The group that came to take the kids? They were the last group I wanted to take care of personally and you just rushed in and killed them. I had so much planned for them and you just ruined it." Drew snapped with her fingers. "Just like that. So I thought, why not make you my new toy." She added. 

"That's all? You did all this shit, just because we got rid of the raiders before you could? Because we ruined you're 'fun'?" Clementine couldn't believe what this woman was saying. 

"Humanity killed itself for less than that since forever, you know? At least I'm honest about it." Drew stated. 

"If you want to kill me, just do it! You have nothing to gain from me listening to the shit your sick mind comes up with." Drew shook her head. 

"No, I won't just kill you. That's boring and would be too easy." Drew stood up, grabbed Clementine's jaw for a moment and came face to face with her. "You know how they say, that the eyes are the windows to your soul? That you can see the spark of it if you look close enough?" She looked Clementine right into her eyes.

"I don't know what you're trying to say here." Clementine tried her best to meet Drew's gaze. She let go of her, pacing over the pier for a while. 

"Tell me, did it ever cross your mind that Kevin here, would betray you someday?"

"No." Clementine hesitantly admitted. Drew walked over to Kevin and touched his cheek for a moment. The way he leaned into the touch didn't leave Clementine in any doubt about his longing for Drew's attention. 

"That's because he is a really good boy if he wants to be one. All these months he traveled with the caravan, to gain their trust. I just send him to keep an eye on them but it really paid off, when he was able to integrate into your group because of it.  
And you just trusted him, only because this woman did. What's her name again? Christa was it, wasn't it?" Drew walked over to her chair again but didn't sit down. 

"I guess he's a really good actor then," Clementine grumbled. 

"You could say that. The question is, is he the only good actor you know?" Drew grinned again. 

"What are you trying to say?" 

"Oh, you know what I'm trying to say. Don't try to play dumb, _payaso_." The sudden change of language irritated Clementine for a moment, but Drew was right.  
She knew exactly what she was implying. Maybe there was another one of her men in the school. She couldn't be sure that there wasn't and if there was one, everyone would be in danger at this very moment.  
The only thing she could hope for was that Violet would be able to prevent whatever may be happening there now. 

"You're bluffing." At least Clementine hoped so. Drew just smiled and tilted her head to the side for a second. 

"Am I? You will find out either way. As I said, I just want to talk to you and I stick to my words."

"Just leave us be. If you wanted to get rid of the Delta, just do that." Clementine looked at her. 

"That's already taken care of. The place is mine now. I just wanted to play with Lily a bit more. But that honor falls onto you now." Drew gestured widely to Clementine as if she had announced the winning of a huge Jackpot to her.  
Clementine thought a moment about what Drew had said. 

"You're those sick fucks Abel mentioned to me." Who else could it be when not her group? 

"He talked about me? How sweet of him. Now that you mention it I saw your little decoration outside. I like your style but it could use some improvements." Drew set her chair to the side.

"I don't want any tips from you." Drew snapped with her fingers making Kevin and the other guy move. Clementine couldn’t see where they were going since they moved behind her, but she knew, they wouldn't go far. 

"And still I will give you some. I wanted to show you anyway, so since we were talking about being creative with decorations, it fits the theme." Clementine heard something heavy being rolled onto the pier.  
The wooden planks groaned under the weight. Whatever the two men had rolled into Clementine’s vision, was big and concealed under a black plastic wrap.  
Drew moved over to the object and Clementine wasn't sure if that made the object look bigger or Drew shorter in comparison. She was definitely not really short but compared to Kevin or that object, her height wasn't at all remarkable either.  
She just glared at Drew without saying anything, but she was sure, whatever she hid under that black plastic, wouldn't be anything she would want to see. 

"Since you, or to be exact your little boy, put some holes into her, I went and retrieved the body of our dear Lily. After all her panicking about me I just couldn't disappoint her and not keeping my word, you know? I promised her that I would make sure to turn her into one of my greatest works and I'm really pleased with the outcome. What do you say?" Drew ripped the plastic cover from the object, which revealed itself to be a big, sturdy wooden board, but what Drew had fixed onto it, made Clementine’s stomach turn as much as the smell did that hit her nose right after.  
She could easily recognize Lily but as easily could she tell that Drew vandalized her body into the Queen of Clubs. She had used the lower half of her body for the details, presumably, but the main eyecatcher of this grotesque piece was definitely the upper half.  
She must've cut her upper body in half lengthwise to archive this imagery but she had managed to perfectly mirror the known picture on the playing card. Clementine had no idea how Drew had managed to keep all that in place but she really didn't want to know anyway.  
She didn't even want to look at it anymore, so she opted for glaring at Drew. That way she didn't have to look at the monstrosity in front of her and she didn't have to say anything, Drew would've just taken as a compliment. 

"What? You don't like it? I thought you would appreciate it more, after everything she did. I actually thought about gifting it to you." Drew met Clementine’s glare with overacted friendliness. 

"I'm afraid that thing is too big to fit into my room." Clementine pressed through her teeth. Her jaw hurt, starting to give her headaches but she really tried to keep control over herself, to not give any ammunition to Drew. 

"How do you like this idea? We just let it stand here, so you can come back any time and look at it. I have so many of them already. It would be really selfish to keep this one for myself. It turned out too well for that." Drew looked at the sick joke of an art piece with visible pride. 

"Drew, it's time." The second guy looked at the sky and then at Drew. The sun had begun to set. 

"Already? How time flies when you have fun. I'm sorry, Clementine but you know how it is. If the cat leaves the house and all that. I'm sure you have your own chaos to prevent back home. Kevin and Rico here will stay with you a little longer and then you're free to go. Take care and _Adios_!" Drew theatrically bowed for a second, grinned at her and left, vanishing into the woods. 

"I knew she would shut you up, real quick." Kevin turned to Clem, presumably after Drew was out of sight. 

"Fuck you," Clementine growled, glaring at him. She wanted to leave already. Who knew what was going on in the school now. She needed to go home. 

"I mean, she's right. At least you could put that boner you have to use that way." Rico had a smug grin on his face, as he said that. 

"Shut the fuck up, Rico!" Kevin barked at him. 

"Come on, Kevin, why so angry? Or did I embarrass you in front of your new friend here? I'm sure she already put 2 and 2 together." Clementine watched both of the guys carefully. She saw Kevin's muscles tense under his shirt, while Rico had a more casual, goofy stance. Other than her, he didn't seem to see the need to be more cautious of Kevin. 

"Go and keep an eye on Drew," Kevin ordered in a raspy tone. 

"I already had an eye on Drew, the whole day long." Rico grinned but that grin went away as fast as it came when Kevin grabbed him by the collar, lifted him up and held him above the river, that still had to be full of walkers. He struggled but there was no way for him to escape Kevin's grasp. 

"Calm down, dude! It was a joke, ok? You know that! The last guy who tried something got his dick chopped off, I'm not that crazy!" Rico still struggled, his legs flailing over the water, his hands desperately trying to loosen Kevin's grip. 

"You want me to let go of you?" Kevin growled again. 

"Yes! I'm sorry, ok? I won't say anything about Drew again!" Rico looked at the water. With all the ruckus he made, Clementine was sure that a group of walkers were waiting right underneath the surface. 

"Fine," Kevin said and released Rico, causing him to fall into the river. Clementine involuntarily listened to Rico struggling in the water, his pleading to Kevin to help him, the gargling noises when the walkers pulled him underwater again and again and after some time: Only silence. 

"You took him a bit too literally." Clementine looked at Kevin. Every one of the people in that group were deranged, of that, she was sure. 

"How would you react if someone would talk like that about Vi? Huh?" Kevin moved closer to her. 

"Not like that at least." Clementine narrowed her eyebrows. 

"If you're not willing to do something like that for your woman, you're not worthy of her." Kevin looked her into the eyes for a moment, while he reached behind her, taking her revolver away from her. 

"Every one of you is insane." Clementine watched his movements carefully. 

"You don't know anything about us. This world is our world. It's Drew's world and you will understand that soon enough..." He crouched in front of her for a moment, making direct eye contact again. "... _Nadie puede esconderse de la Parca_. Nobody can hide from death. Remember that."

"Was that what the LP on the note stood for?" Clementine looked up again when Kevin stood up.

"La Parca. Yes." He moved over to Lily's vandalized remains and fixed Clementine's revolver onto it.  
He pulled a knife out of his boot and proceeded to move behind Clementine.

"I would've loved to own that revolver, but Drew ordered me to let you keep it. So until you freed yourself, that bitch will keep it safe." He said while he forced her to take the knife.

"Was everything you said and did a lie?" Clementine looked at him as he came back around. She just needed time. If she could keep him busy, maybe she could free herself and stop him at least.

"What does it matter?" He looked down at her.

"I want to know if I really was that wrong about you." She fiddled with the knife, almost losing her grip on it a few times while doing so.

"I honestly do like Vi. I appreciate people that just say what they think. But other than that, I couldn't care less." Clementine finally had the knife in a good position and started to cut through the rope.

"If you really like her, then tell me if she's safe. Is the school in danger?" He silently looked at her for a short while, before he just started to move away from her, making his way over to the woods. When she finally had her hands freed and was able to turn around, he was already gone, leaving her not knowing what would await her, when she came back home.


	6. Watch me make them bow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kept you waiting huh? 
> 
> My apologies for the long wait. Health issues and real life got me good, but I'm back now!
> 
> Have fun with the extra long chapter!

Clementine had made it halfway to the school when the sun had switched places with the moon already. She was exhausted and out of her mind worried about what possibly was happening in the school right now. No matter how much she thought about it, she wasn't able to pinpoint someone, who could be another one of Drew's henchmen. It definitely wasn't Dan, in no way could he have been part of such a group. 

Ashley wasn't in question, too. Christa said she met her long ago, even before the Caravan group was a thing. So the only one in the school that maybe could have been someone sent in, was Kent. Did Christa ever mention where she met him? Clementine couldn't recall her telling her the story.   
Lost in her thoughts she almost missed the distinctive sounds of hooves rhythmically trotting down the trail behind her. When she looked back, she was relieved to see a familiar face sitting on an also familiar horse. The horse came to a stop beside her. 

"Do you need a ride?" Christa dismounted the horse. 

"We need to get home immediately" Clementine looked sternly at Christa making her go from happy to see Clementine, to being deeply worried. 

"What happened?" She helped her onto the horse. 

"The short version is that Kevin betrayed us, belongs to a group that's far worse than every other group I ever encountered and maybe there is another traitor in the   
school." Clementine watched Christa tying the crutches on to the horse and get back on it in front of her. 

"And the long version?" Christa made the horse fall into a gallop without bothering to ease the speed in. Clementine had to grip onto her tightly to stay on it.

"I will tell you that when we're sure that everything is fine." Christa navigated the horse through the woods, which seemed to prove itself to be difficult at the speed they were going. 

"I'm sorry, Clementine", she said loudly, so Clementine would catch it. 

"About what?" 

"Kevin. I brought him with me." Clementine could tell by the sound of Christa's voice, that she really was distressed about it. 

"It's not your fault. No one caught on to him." There was no way Christa could've known and Clementine knew that. Blaming her wouldn't do anything. 

"Still." Christa sighed. 

"What about Kent?" Clementine needed to know. Christa stayed silent for a moment.

"I met him and Greg long before we ran into Kevin. But I can see why you would mention him." 

"Could you imagine him being influenced by Kevin?" Maybe Drew didn't have to bring two henchmen in. Maybe one was enough to recruit another one that was already in.

"I don't know but...I don't think that he would be a threat regardless. Violet would handle him pretty well." Christa said in an ensuring tone. 

"I hope you're right." Clementine remained quiet for the rest of the way. She could already tell that the gate was open when they finally arrived. But she saw the reason for it almost at the same time. Violet stood in the gate holding Rosie on her leash, seemingly arguing with AJ about something. 

"We don't have time for this, AJ. I have to go and look for..." AJ interrupted Violet by pointing down the path. 

"Clem!" 

"Yes, Clem. So please stay..." AJ interrupted her again. 

"No, Vi! Clem is back!" He ran to the horse as Christa stopped it, got down and helped Clementine doing the same. AJ impatiently waited until Christa handed Clementine her crutches, so she could support herself again, before almost throwing himself onto her. 

"Careful. Everything ok here?" Clementine asked after hugging him for a moment. 

"Nothing happened here. We were worried about you." He looked up to her. 

"I'm fine." She smiled and then looked past him for a moment to look at Violet. She had kept her distance to let AJ talk to Clementine without disturbing them in any way. When AJ moved aside to let Clementine walk over to her, she smiled slightly. 

"I'm back," Clementine said in a soft, assuring tone. Violet stood there for a second as if she was contemplating what to do but then settled for pulling Clementine into her arms, almost knocking her off her crutches. 

"I couldn't find you at the meeting point. I just came back to get Rosie to find you." Violet whispered while she held Clementine close.

"Let me guess, AJ tried to get you to take him with you?" Clementine hugged her back, running her hand through Violet’s hair for a moment to calm her down and trying to ease her tension.

"I just wanted to protect her, while trying to find you." AJ stood beside them after he had greeted Christa. Clementine let go of Violet and patted him on the head. 

"Thought so. Still, you need to listen to her, ok?" AJ exhaled loudly. 

"Yea, I know." He fiddled with his fingers. Violet smiled at him.

"I appreciate that you want to protect me though." AJ beamed with happiness at Violet’s comment, while she turned back to Clementine. 

"Where is Kevin?" Over the relief to have Clementine back, she almost forgot about him. 

"We need to gather everyone. I will tell you everything then." Clementine immediately turned serious again. Violet narrowed her eyebrows. 

"Sure, I get everyone together." Without hesitation, Violet, accompanied by Rosie, got back inside, not even questioning any further. 

"Something bad happened" AJ stood there with a serious expression. Clementine sighed. 

"I'm afraid bad doesn't cut it, kiddo." AJ looked from Clementine to Christa, but she didn't seem too thrilled about that statement either. 

"We should get in. I really want to know what is going on." Christa walked over to the horse, so she could take it inside with them. 

\----

It wasn't long until everyone was gathered and Clementine told them what happened. The reactions of the group ranged from boiling anger to utter disgust and fear. After the initial gathering only Aasim, Clementine, AJ, Kent, Christa and Violet remained in the courtyard while everyone else tried to digest the news. 

"So we got rid of the Delta and somehow they fucked us over beyond the grave?" Violet was furious but Clementine knew that she just tried to hide the fact that she was worried sick about everyone. 

"To me, it sounded like Clementine is the one to blame for it." Kent looked at Clementine obviously pissed. 

"Excuse me?" She couldn't believe what she just heard. 

"You killed this woman that psycho wanted and now she's after us because of it!" 

"Stop being a huge fucking asshole, Kent!" Violet growled at him. 

"See? Just like last time, something happens and he's the first one to blame somebody for it!" Aasim was immediately confrontational with Kent. 

"Oh come on! I can't be the only one thinking this!" He looked over the faces of the others but only met disapproving facial expressions. 

"Maybe she said that's her reason but people like that would do what she did regardless. And even if it is her actual reason, Clementine did what she needed to do to save her group. I never met Lilly, but from what everyone told me back then, she had it coming. They left her once, who knows what she would’ve done if she had let her go again. And we were the ones who brought Kevin in, don't forget that." Having Christa so obviously against him, Kent seemed to lose his confidence. 

"Whatever! Maybe we have something she wants more than just mindless killing. She has a group she surely wants to feed and all that. You talked to her once, maybe she is willing to talk to you again." He turned to Clementine. 

"That won't do anything. You can't reason with her. After everything she did, the way she talked and looked at me, there is no way she will just let us be. I've met a lot of bad people but she is way worse than that. We would only make it worse for us." Clementine tried to explain. 

"So we're just surrendering then?" Kent was obviously not very fond of that idea. 

"No, of course not. We can't talk us out of it, but we will definitely defend our selves." Clementine said sternly. 

"Be smart about it." AJ tried to mimic Clementine’s tone, causing her to look at him and smile. 

"That's right." She looked at Kent again but she couldn't tell if her answer satisfied him or not. 

"We will see how that goes, I guess. I have work to finish." Kent grumbled a bit, before leaving without any further words. 

"I can't stand this jerk. How are you able to put up with him?" Aasim looked at Christa. 

"He was always a little difficult but lately it really got worse. Don't take it too personally, but I think he hates it to work for a group of kids. He can't wrap his head around the fact that you're all equally as capable as any adult if not more so." Christa shot him an apologetic smile. 

"As if there weren't more important issues in this world than that." Aasim rolled his eyes. 

"Right now there definitely is and we need to start with preparations, before whatever the fuck is about to go down." Violet had her arms crossed and her voice was a bit shaky, which was a sure sign for Clementine that she was overwhelmed by the situation at the moment. 

"Guess I go and find Willy. Maybe we can come up with some traps or something" Aasim shrugged. Clementine could see how stressed he was, despite trying to seem calm as he turned to walk away. 

"I check the back. There has to be a faster way to get rid of the Walkers there. We don't have time to do it how we planned" Violet’s body language as she walked away, told Clementine everything she needed to know about how she felt. She didn't need to touch her to know how tense she had to be right now. But she also knew that when she acted like this, she needed to be by herself for a while. 

Clementine could only imagine how everything that had happened accumulated into sheer chaos in her girlfriend's head. Chaos that she wouldn't be able to sort out when she would go after her right then and there. So Clementine opted for checking in on everyone else first, since most of them didn't say much, after the initial meeting. 

"What's your plan for now?" It was Christa that had asked. 

"Asking around how everyone feels with this. I need to know if everyone is ready to defend our home. Again." Clementine sighed. 

"I'm sure we will pull through." Christa tried to be as positive as possible, that was obvious, but it was just as clear that she just put on a happy face for Clementine, who just nodded. They both knew that there was no point dwelling on the things that could go wrong and concentrating on thinking somewhat positive was the only thing keeping them and everyone else sane. So Clementine switched her attention to AJ instead. 

"What do you think about all this?" She had seen him standing there with his eyebrows narrowed for a while now and she knew, as long as he wouldn't be prompted to talk, he would just circle in his own head for ages. 

"I don't like this, Clem. It's bad. We need to protect everyone. Like we did with Lily." Clementine wasn't sure if she liked him talking about what they did with Lily in this context, but she had learned to not take him too literally in such cases. He proved himself after all. 

"So no need to ask you if you're ready to help build the defenses, I guess?" She tried to smile but only managed half of it. He shook his head almost furiously. 

"We build the best defenses. I will protect you, Clem. I did it once. I can do it again! You'll see! I protect everyone!" Clementine patted his head, ruffling through his hair in the process. 

"I'm sure you will. Should we go talk to Louis?" AJ nodded, still a little over-enthusiastic but who would take offense at that now? 

They walked over to the table in the courtyard where Louis, Ashley, and Ruby were sitting, Christa just silently accompanying them. 

"Hey." Clementine just sat with them, waiting for them to start talking. She didn't want to pressure them. She knew that talking about it, made it real and maybe they weren't ready for that yet. 

"Does it ever end, Clem?" Ruby looked at her. She looked so done and afraid, that Clementine wished to be able to just tell her that it would, but lying wouldn't do her any favors. 

"I hope so, Ruby. I'm sorry that I can't tell you something else. I really am." Clementine reached for her hand, to try to calm her a bit. She almost figured that Ruby would pull back, but instead, she squeezed Clementine's hand. 

"You're honest at least." Ruby tried a thankful smile, but it came out weak. 

"I wish I could be honest and still tell you that everything will be fine." Ruby just idly nodded. Clementine could see that she went back into her own thoughts, so she let go of her hand, to let her go back to it in peace. 

"Ashley wants to know what the plan is now," Christa said when she recognized that Clementine's attention was on the whole table again. 

"For now we need to set up our defenses. I don't think that we have to face another raid like we had with the Delta, but better to be prepared." Clementine examined Ashley's expression for a moment. 

She didn't get to know her extremely well since she spent most of her time with Louis when she came over but she could see a remarkable determination in her eyes. Clementine watched while Ashley signed whatever she wanted to say to Christa, so she could translate for her. 

"She wants to know how she can help. She doesn't want to be just someone that needs protecting." Christa smiled while she translated that. 

"Oh, I can see that you're able to fight for yourself, no worries." Clementine shot her a little smile. Ashley grinned for a second and then signed something Clementine understood without needing Christa to translate. She wanted her to continue to answer her question. 

"We never broke the barbwire down, for obvious reasons. You and Louis could make sure that it still holds up. We have some left in the storage room if you find any damaged parts. Vi and I need to go over some things before I can tell you more." While talking to Ashley, Clementine looked over to Louis out of the corner of her eye. AJ had seated himself beside him, giggling every so often, since Louis started to hand him notes that were most likely some silly jokes. 

She found herself appreciating Louis's talent to bring fun back into dire situations all over again. Even if she wished that this talent wouldn't be needed ever again. 

"I told her about the cards, by the way," Christa said, pulling Clementine out of her thoughts. 

"Ok? Why?" Clementine was puzzled. After the initial receiving, she didn't think about the playing cards that often anymore. 

"Ashley's mother worked at a fair as a fortune-teller. When I told Ashley about us receiving those cards, she said that there may be more to them, then just them being a weird kind of post-it." 

Christa's explanation didn't really help Clementine to understand and that seemed to show because Christa continued: "There are different ways of fortune-telling and one of it works with these playing cards. Every card has it's own meaning and a whole other one when occurring together. Ashley said, maybe Drew didn't send just random cards but specific ones. She would like to see them." Clementine narrowed her eyebrows. 

"Did Kevin know about this?" Christa looked at Ashley but all she did was shrug. 

"He was with us for a while. Maybe he overheard it at some point." 

"So she's playing us even more than we realized until now. Great." Clementine sighed. 

"We don't know that yet. Ashley needs to look at them first." Even if Christa said that she clearly had thought the same as Clementine. 

"Vi keeps them somewhere safe. I tell her to give them to you." Ashley acknowledged it by nodding. 

"Everything ok with you Louis?" Clementine asked, now looking directly at him. He raised his head from the note he was scribbling for AJ and grinned before he gave her a thumbs up. 

"Sure?" Louis nodded but signed something nonetheless. 

"Hey says he's worried about everyone but he believes that you will figure something out." Christa translated again. 

"Sure, let me do all the work." Clementine smiled slightly. Louis signed again. 

"He is responsible for the moral support." Clementine looked at Christa, eyebrows raised. 

"Don't look at me like that. That's what he said!" 

"Granted, you do have a way with that stuff," Clementine admitted making Louis smile proudly. "Still, you will check the barbwire with Ashley." She added. Louis just grinned and saluted her in his usual goofy way to which Clementine rolled her eyes, smiling nonetheless. 

"When all this is over Ashley needs to teach sign language to all of you," Christa said.

"I'm looking forward to it. I go check on the rest of us now if that's ok?" Everyone on the table nodded and Clementine slowly got up from the bench. 

"Could you tell Aasim to meet me at the greenhouse?" Ruby looked at Clementine.

"Sure. AJ? Are you coming with me or do you want to stay with Louis?" AJ jumped from the bench. 

"Nah, I go with you. It's important to look after everyone!" 

"It is. If something happens, tell me immediately ok?" Clementine looked at each of them for a moment. 

"Of course. Don't worry. See you later." Christa said. 

"See you later." When the others were out of earshot from them, Clementine turned to AJ. 

"Do you think Louis is ok?" AJ shrugged. 

"He looked ok. Why?" Clementine sighed. 

"I don't know. He just started to get back to his old self and now everyone is in danger again. I just hope he doesn't just hide how he really feels. I would understand if he was terrified. After everything that happened to him" AJ looked at her.

"He got stronger and he didn't seem terrified. At least I don't think so." AJ frowned a bit. 

"Oh, for sure. Maybe I'm worrying too much." She said. 

"You always told me to stay calm. I think we need to do that." AJ looked at her with a stern expression. 

"That's right. And we have to make sure everyone else stays as calm as possible too. I really don't think Drew will let us slip up without using it as an advantage." Clementine's facial expression was grim for a second, startling AJ. 

"I hate her, even if I didn't meet her yet."

"I really hope that you will never meet her, kiddo," Clementine said that but she knew that this hope was with huge probability a lost cause anyway. 

"She killed Omar. She's a monster. Like Lilly was." Now it was AJ's turn to look grim. 

"I don't think you can compare them to one another. Lilly was bad, but she wasn't always that way. Drew, on the other hand, her eyes..." A cold shiver ran down Clementine's spine when she remembered that cold, emotionless stare. AJ narrowed his eyebrows. 

"You ok, Clem? You're kinda scary..." He said worryingly. 

"Yes, sorry. I'm Ok. We can do this. I'm just nervous because we still have to make a plan." She tried to regain her composure, so AJ could calm a bit again. He looked at her obviously not really convinced by what Clementine had said but at least it seemed like it helped somewhat. 

"OK. I trust you, Clem." She smiled at him. 

"And I trust you. Come on, let's check on the rest." He nodded, following her over to where Dan sat, who was observing Aasim and Willy and their loud discussion. 

"We can't use their own traps against them! I already explained that!" Aasim seemed very annoyed. 

"But if they count on them being there, but know we know that they know, they won't think that we use them!" Clementine wasn't sure if she followed that thought correctly. 

"That's a stupid idea!" Aasim spat out. 

"You don't have any better ones!" Willy replied making Aasim just grumble. 

"Guys, please. Maybe you two should take a break and calm down for a while." Clementine tried to break up the discussion. 

"Yea, maybe." Aasim still grumbled. 

"Ruby asked me to tell you to meet her at the greenhouse. She needs you, she isn't feeling well at all." Clementine looked at him. 

"Shit, sure. On my way." He immediately made his way over to the greenhouse without any more words. Clementine could see that he felt bad. Probably because someone had to tell him instead of him thinking about it on his own. 

"Do you think it's a bad idea?" Willy asked, pulling Clementine's attention to him. 

"Using these pike traps against them? I don't know, Willy." Clementine didn't think that they would fall for these traps or any for that matter. But maybe having one step into a trap was better than not having them at all and let them roam around like they owned the place. 

"They're easy to make and don't need much stuff to work." Willy gestured widely into the air. 

"That's true but we would have to make sure that none of us steps into one of those on accident." Clementine tried to reason. 

"Maybe we can build some in the back. We don't go there anyway." AJ suggested. 

"That could work." Clementine smiled slightly. 

"Yes! I go make the plans for it right now!" Willy seemed overly excited about this as he went to wherever, but Clementine figured that this was his way to cope with these things. He was someone who had to build stuff, to not get insane over this. She already had seen him do that with the Delta and it had worked out in the end. Somewhat. 

"Most of you seem to know what to do with this situation." Dan broke the silence he had kept while watching the whole discussion between Willy and Aasim. 

"We had to deal with something similar already." Clementine turned to him. 

"So I heard. Damn lunatics, always searching for the easiest victims. Cowards, every one of them." Dan sounded very unusual in Clementine's ears but she never talked to him when he wasn't his cheerful, granddad like self. His voice was usually soothing with a slight rasp to it, but he obviously worrying about everyone in the school, turned the gentle sound into a bass-bariton. 

"We're not easy victims." Clementine reminded him. 

"Oh, I know, but do they know? I don't think so." Clementine really wanted to cross her arms but her needing to hold onto her crutches made that no option. 

"I'm actually not sure about that, Dan. They know way too much about us, thanks to Kevin and..." Clementine interrupted herself. She wasn't even sure what to tell him. She didn't know what to make of the situation for herself if she was honest. Sure she had faced a lot of danger before. Walkers and people alike and it was always the people that were the most dangerous.

And each and every encounter with another hostile group got more dangerous. Why should it be different this time? She survived every single encounter but always paid a price for it. More than once the price she had paid, had been way too high. 

For a moment she thought of everyone living behind these walls. She looked at AJ and her heart sank for a second and when she thought of Violet...It felt like it achingly stopped for a bit too long.

"AJ?" Dan's voice echoed through Clementine's ears when it ripped her out of her thoughts. 

"Yes?" AJ looked at him, slightly irritated by the situation. 

"Remember the thing, we were working on? Would you mind looking over the details? I got them done this morning. It's on the table inside." He smiled at him. AJ turned to Clementine. 

"Can I?" Clementine nodded. 

"Sure. Go ahead." AJ grinned at her and ran inside the forge to check on whatever the two of them were making. 

"It's ok to be afraid, you know?" Dan looked at Clementine with a warmth, that reminded her of dark eyes, looking down to her to make her feel better, whenever she got afraid when all of this started. 

"I can't afford to be afraid. Not now." Clementine replied. 

"If not now, then when? When everything is over and you don't need to be afraid anymore? You can't just go around and pretend for everyone's sake, Clementine." Dan shot her a serious glance, but she could still see the genuine care in his eyes. 

"Being afraid doesn't get things done. And we need to get everything done, as soon as possible." Dan tilted his head a bit to the side. 

"So? And what is this everything that needs to get done? What's your plan? Besides fortifying the place?" 

"I'm working on it." Clementine seemed rather agitated by Dan's blunt approach. 

"You're panicking under that tough act you're putting on, aren't you? Don't you lie to me, pumpkin." His voice grew softer with every word he spoke. Clementine weakly shrugged.

"I wouldn't call it panicking." She said quietly. 

"I know that you need to keep yourself calm, so you have a free mind for the things to come. What I'm saying is, that you need to acknowledge your fear, or it will consume you one day and hit you with full force at the worst time possible. Don't just swallow it, you hear?" Clementine thought a moment about what he said. She wouldn't disagree with him, but she was far from agreeing, too. 

The last time her fear got the better of her was when she first met Rosie and that was a whole other story than being afraid of yet another conglomerate of crazy people and then again... 

When she met Drew there was a strangely familiar feeling deep in her guts and thinking back of first meeting Rosie... It was quite a similar feeling minus the freezing thing, of course. Maybe Dan had a bigger point than it seemed, now that this realization had come to light. 

"Pumpkin?" Dan interrupted her thoughts.

"Yes. Sorry, I was thinking about something." He narrowed his eyebrows. 

"Care to share?" Clementine was unsure if he rhymed that on purpose or if it just came out that way. 

"I don't know if it's worth sharing. I just thought about how similar it felt, meeting Rosie for the first time and now Drew. I had a bad experience with a dog once." She had quickly added that last sentence when Dan looked at her obviously puzzled. 

"So practically, you perceived her as an animal?" He said that as like he was inquiring on that but Clementine knew, that it was more of a statement. 

"Maybe? I don't know." Clementine thought about it for a second. Did or rather does she perceive Drew as an animal? Her first thought told her no, so maybe animal wasn’t quite the right expression for it. But it wasn’t far from it either. 

„A Predator maybe?“ Dan suggested and Clementine felt like he had hit the nail on the head with it.

„Yes! That’s what she is. I knew it wasn’t the same with her as it was with Sam or Rosie.“ Finding the right description for this woman wasn’t exactly important but Clementine was sure it would help her to defend everyone and herself from her regardless. 

„Well, that isn’t really reassuring to hear, pumpkin.“ He had a crooked smile on his face while saying that. Clementine sighed.

„I know. But I wasn’t sure how we should handle whatever she will do to us.“ Dan looked at her with narrowed eyebrows.

„And now you do?“ Clementine met his gaze. With the realization that she had to be a different kind of cautious with Drew, stabilized her wonky self-confidence again.

„Not exactly but handling just another group sure is different from handling a predator with his pack.“ Dan nodded.

„True. But promise me, that you remember what I said.“ Dan said in a serious tone.

„Yes, I promise.“ Dan nodded, satisfied with her answer.

„You should go and talk with your Missus. I saw her walking to the gate that leads to the back of the school. She seemed quite angry.“ Clementine shook her head slowly.

„She’s not angry. She’s disappointed and anxious about everything that’s happening.“ Clementine explained.

„You know her better than me, still, you should go and talk with her. I will take care of AJ for the time being.“ Dan offered and Clementine thankfully accepted the help.

„Maybe that’s better. Tell him I meet him at lunch.“ Dan nodded.

„Sure.“

„Thank you.“ Clementine smiled for a second and started to make her way over to where Violet was presumably stuck in her own loop of thoughts.

\---

When she arrived at the gate, Violet was standing on top of some crates to be able to see beyond it, into the backyard of the school. Clementine closed the gap between them and waited until Violet acknowledged her. She didn’t want to startle her too much.

„There’s a shitload of walkers roaming. I think there are more than last time we checked.“ Violet said after a while.

„Any idea why?“ Clementine looked at her.

„Nope.“ Violet stated while hopping off the crates. Clementine saw her flinching for a second when she landed on her feet.

„Careful. You’re still hurt.“ She said, with a sorrowful look on her face.

„So? Fuck it. No time to be a pussy.“ Violet looked at her.

„I don’t see how being careful because I need you ready and fit is being a pussy.“ Violet grumbled but sighed.

„Fine. Whatever. Still, I have no fucking clue why we have a herd of rotting assholes in our backyard.“

„I was just asking if you have a theory.“ Clementine exhaled audibly. „Doesn’t matter for now anyway. We deal with that later. I think you and me needing to talk is more important now.“ She added.

„And how is that more important?“ Violet’s eyes looked tired, anxious, sad and angry at the same time somehow. 

„Because I know that you’re just one huge chaos at the moment and I need you focused. I can’t do this without you.“ Clementine looked her in the eyes and stated it simple and blunt. 

She knew that that was the best approach now. Violet held her gaze for longer than Clementine had anticipated but finally averted her eyes after a long silence.

„It’s a huge fucking shit show, Clem. There is never time to prepare. Everything goes to hell in seconds. Every fucking time and I can’t just shake it off like you and do stuff just like that.“ Clementine closed her eyes for a second and then started to put one of her crutches to the side of a crate to sit down on it, followed by the other one, when she finally seated herself.

„I don’t just ‘shake it off’ and do stuff like that, Vi. It’s hard. It really is and before I came here, and met everyone, met you, I couldn’t imagine it getting any harder than it was already, but it is now. When it was just AJ and me, I was able to focus just on him and as long as he was safe, everything was fine. But now? I have so, so much more to lose and I’m scared shitless.“ She stretched her hand out to Violet, who hesitated for a second but then grabbed it and sat down beside her.   
Violet stayed silent and squeezed Clementine’s hand for a second, getting a squeeze and a little smile in return, before Clementine continued speaking.

„That’s exactly why I need to stay focused, you know? And that’s why I need you to be focused and I know that you need to get things off your chest to go back to being the capable leader you were, back when we had to fight Delta.“ Violet just sat there for a moment, breathing slowly and seemingly consciously, maybe trying to find the right words to reply.

„Things were easier when I had shut myself off from everything.“ She finally said, looking at Clementine, who knew she waited for her to be upset about that statement. But she wasn’t.

„Do you regret opening up to me?“ Violet smiled slightly, squeezed her hand again and shook her head slowly.

„Not for a second.“ She looked down at their intertwined hands. „This was and is worth it. Still, it was easier.“ Clementine sniffed a laugh.

„I guess that’s true.“ Violet looked into the distance for a moment.

„The one I regret is Kevin“ she then said going back into a more serious tone. 

„You and he got along well, didn’t you?“ Clementine watched Violet carefully. She didn’t want to dig too much. Violet very slowly nodded.

„I actually thought we were friends. He was funny, nice and seemed to really care for everyone. He would’ve been a great fucking actor, I guess.“ Violet growled a bit.

„He helped with clearing the greenhouse. Everything ok there?“ Clementine needed to ask this. They couldn’t afford to lose the greenhouse.

„Yeah, it's fine. I checked it before you came here. Nothing suspicious there. I’m just...How could I have been this stupid? Trusting him like that? I know better than that...“ Violet let out a frustrated sigh.

„Sadly, you do. But it's good to trust people. Yes, he screwed us over but not anyone is like that.“ Clementine said.

„Too many people are like that, Clem.“ Violet let her shoulders hang lower than usual. After the incident with the Delta and after Clementine had recovered as much as she did, Violet’s whole posture had changed to one that almost screamed a sense of pride and definitively reflected her gained self-confidence. But in this very moment, she reversed into the same posture she had, when Clementine had first met her.

„But the few that aren’t are worth it. I met so many wonderful people that way. For a while, I did this whole, ‘trust nobody’ thing, too and rarely get to know someone I now call a good friend. Don’t get me wrong. Being suspicious is good, but totally shutting off isn’t. You trusted me too when AJ and I came here.“ Clementine looked at her.

„Not right away.“ Violet said.

„But eventually. And you didn’t trust Kevin right away, too. But you actually were more trusting, than when we first met.“ Clementine shuffled herself round a bit, so she could sit a little more comfortably.

„Thanks to you.“ Violet said in a half sarcastic way.

„Now it's my fault?“ Clementine narrowed her eyebrows.

„You made me a better person, so yes!“ Violet grinned somewhat. Obviously using the little banter to get herself out of her dark headspace. Clementine sniffed a laugh again.

„Okay, then it's my fault. I take that.“ Violet took a deep breath.

„But seriously, this whole act Kevin put on...It's not only because I thought he was nice and really cared about me and everyone but nobody did suspect anything. We lost Omar, thanks to that asshole and who knows what will happen from now on. I just...I just think I should have known that he’s not who he seemed to be.“

„If nobody did, why should you have? He traveled with Christa for a long time and she didn’t suspect anything either. It’s not your fault. Some people have different sides to them and maybe the Kevin we saw, wasn’t an act. Not completely at least.“ Clementine shrugged a bit.

„Why would you think that?“ Violet looked at her.

„I don’t know really. He has something about him, that...Mh...he reminds me of someone I guess. Maybe that’s why. I also asked him, if everything he said and done was a lie, and he told me yes, except that he liked you. He really did and I believe him.“ They looked at each other in silence for a while before Violet shrugged.

„Doesn’t change much. He still needs to pay for what he did to us.“ Violet’s fists clenched while speaking.

„The first thing we need to do is to pull our defenses up.“ Clementine reminded her, making her sigh.

„Yeah, I know, focus.“ Clementine shook her head.

„No, I mean, yes but whenever you’re as angry as you are now: That’s when you’re focused. That’s your strength.“

„First time someone said that to me.“ Violet looked at Clementine with a slightly puzzled expression.

„But it’s true. Maybe others don’t see the differences in how you act when you’re feeling sad or frightened, but I do. You might seem angry but most of the time, you’re not. The times I saw you genuinely just angry was when you felt you or someone else was threatened or got hurt or was in danger of getting hurt because of someone's neglect. And then you’re focused on just getting done whatever it is that needs to be done, just to protect everyone.“ Clementine’s words seemed to crawl right under Violet’s skin by the look on her face. In a good way, Clementine hoped.

“Shit...that’s also new. Being understood I mean.“ Violet smiled softly.

„I’ve been told that I have a talent for that.“ Clementine smirked.

„You sure do. Guess we get back to the drawing board, huh? Setting our defenses, see if we come up with something for the death parade over there? Fixing the hole in the wall.“ Clementine nodded slowly while Violet spoke.

„We have a lot of hard work to do. It will be tough but we will pull through this. Together.“ She squeezed Violet’s hand again gaining a smile in return.

„Always.“ The answer was given quietly but Clementine understood.

„Ready for social life again? I bet they are waiting for us with lunch.“ She slowly let go of her hand.

„I guess I have to be, do I?“ Violet watched Clementine get up and grabbing her crutches.

„Yes, you do.“ Clementine smiled.

„How could I say no then?“ Violet got up now, too.

„You don’t.“ Clementine smirked.

„Figured.“

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

And so the next few days passed by way too fast. The work they had to put into reinforcing the school didn’t let them fully catch their breath for a while. They were constantly working, building, planning, worrying with only very little time to try and unwind in between. With any new day that passed without any occurrences, they became tenser. 

With the Delta, they were sure that they were coming but with Drew and her group, no one had any idea what they should be anticipating exactly. Yeah sure, they wouldn’t just disappear, that was more than obvious but they didn’t know them enough to predict their next step, which left them far too vulnerable for Clementine’s liking. And with every day that went by without anything happening besides what was going on in everyone's heads, it got harder and harder to appreciate the few breaks they took for themselves to not lose their minds. 

Case in point was Clementine, still circling around her own thoughts, instead of granting herself a few minutes of peace, just for the moment. She sighed quietly before getting her head back up to watch AJ playing with Violet like she wanted to in the first place. She refused to let that group occupy her head like that and miss any precious moments that occurred every day since AJ was born and which only got more important since they arrived here, where they found so much more than just a home.

She watched Violet passing a football to AJ that she had found somewhere on a scavenging trip she did a while ago. Clementine remembered scolding her when she returned with it because she got herself into too much danger just to secure this thing for AJ. But Violet had only shrugged Clementine’s concerned anger off with a grin and a promise that ‘It wasn’t that bad’ and that she just ‘had underestimated how many walkers were in the store. No big deal.’ AJ loved that football to death ever since and Violet always used some of her spare time, if there was any, to teach him how to play. 

She watched AJ run, throwing the football right above Violet’s head and attempting to catch it behind her.

„AJ, you can’t do that. We’re not playing basketball.“ AJ stopped dead in his tracks, looking at Violet.

„Why? It worked!“ 

„Sure it worked, but it’s against the rules.“ Violet crossed her arms and sighed.

„The rules are no fun.“ AJ mumbled.

„You always say that, but you wanted to learn how to play, remember?“ AJ exhaled audibly.

„Yea, I know.“ Violet nodded.

„Then do it again.“ Violet gestured for AJ to hand the football over to her, which he did, before going back into his position. When she passed the ball again, he ran straight at her, trying to get past her. With a little sidestep, he managed to get behind her, but she just swung around, grabbed him by his sweatshirt and lifted him a few inches above the ground.

„That’s not fair, Vi!“ He sounded genuinely annoyed. Violet set him back onto the ground while laughing.

„Sorry, Kiddo. Couldn’t resist.“ 

„Rules are rules!“ AJ grumbled.

„I know, I know. You’re right. Want to do it again?“ Violet smiled at him. AJ grinned a bit and just passed her the football.  
For Clementine, it was a sight to behold. Seeing AJ playing like the kid he was supposed to be and not as just a survivor like he had to be too often in too short of a lifetime. Deep down, she always wished for him to experience some normality. Having more than her as family. Sometimes it was hard for her to wrap her head around that after all these years, they finally found, what they had been searching for so long. 

Clementine looked at AJ. How he was laughing and grinning. Having fun just passing a ball around while running back and forth and she asked herself, why it always had to be this way. Whenever she found some kind of good in life, someone came and tried to take it from her and since AJ was there, he had to live through it, too.

Her eyes wandered over to Violet which evoked an involuntarily smile on Clementine’s lips. She couldn’t think of any instance in which she had imagined to wake up to someone she loved like that, every morning. But exactly that was her life right now. Watching her try to be patient with AJ, despite her being one of the most impatient persons Clementine knew, showed exactly how wonderful she really was. Despite everything that happened, seeing the genuine care and love she has for AJ, let Clementine’s heart skip a beat. 

She needed to protect both of them at any cost. No matter what she had to do to secure their survival, Clementine was ready to do it.

„Clementine!“ Ruby’s voice raised behind them in an alarming tone. AJ, Violet, and Clementine turned to her, almost in unison.

„What’s wrong, Ruby?“ Clementine furrowed her eyebrows.

„Four armed men. At the gates.“ Ruby condensed the bad news. Violet was immediately by Clementine’s side, helping her to get up from the bench she was sitting on and to pass her, her crutches.

„Your bow, Vi.“ AJ reminded her. Violet nodded.

„I know. Watch Clem. I’m right back.“ With that, she went to get her weapon, while the others made their way over to the gate.   
The second they got there, Clementine looked through a little spyhole they left in the corrugated iron sheets they used to block direct sight through the gate. It wouldn’t do much regarding protecting them from bullets, but it was better than nothing. What she saw, didn’t let her get her hopes up for a peaceful confrontation, though. 

As Ruby said, four men, armed with machine guns, stood a few feet away from the gate, side by side. It took her a second to recognize one of them since he looked so different from what she was used to. She turned to the others. In the meantime, everyone had gathered behind her, including Violet, now armed with her bow.

„La Parca.“ If Clementine just muttered it to herself or to everyone, wasn’t exactly clear, but regardless of that, everyone heard it.

„You sure?“ Aasim asked anxiously.

„I recognized Kevin.“ As Clementine said that, Violet’s grip on the bow tightened.

„Clementine!“ Kevin’s voice boomed through the thin metal, with no regard for the volume and the danger it would bring with it.

„I know you’re all standing there. I stood there with you. We’re here to talk.“

„Then talk.“ It was Violet who answered obviously angry.

„I’m sorry, Violet. We can’t do it like that. You need to open the gate first.“

„Yeah, I’m sure you’re sorry. Fuck you. You got something to say, say it.“ Violet had walked closer to the gate while speaking. Clementine touched her shoulder, trying to calm her down a little bit. Again, she looked through the spyhole. Kevin had taken his gun down, thumb on the safety, finger on the side of the gun. He probably had enabled the safety lock.

„You got something, we want back. We need that gate open now, then we talk.“ 

„He took his gun down. But the others didn’t.“ Clementine said quietly to Violet.

„Do you really want to open the gate?“ Violet didn’t understand what she wanted from her now, but Clementine shook her head and turned back to talk to Kevin.

„We don’t have anything that belongs to you.“ A voice behind them spoke out.

„That’s not entirely correct.“ Every head turned around at once and disbelief overcame everybody immediately. Kneeling beside Rosie, petting the head of the calm but excited to be petted Dog, was Drew. Rosie never signaled for the intruder and just accepted her presence like she belonged. Violet aimed her bow at her as soon as she got the confusion about this out of her mind for now, but only with the clear intention to defend and not attack. Kent, on the other hand, reached for his gun, only to get stopped by Clementine putting her arm across his chest, as well as a finger-wag from Drew, making clear she had seen it.

„Nah-uh. I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Kent. Did I get that correctly?“ Drew stood up and looked at Clementine.

„Yes, that’s Kent, who might forgot the machine guns behind these very thin metal sheets.“ She glared at him. 

„Funny that he wants to shoot me when he’s the one who wanted me here.“ Drew acted very nonchalantly for the scenario at hand.

„Did he now?“ Now it was Christa who glared at him.

„That’s what was written on the note one of my men found in the woods. So I thought, why not? Let’s see what he wants. Got anything to say?“ Drew looked at Kent, slightly smirking. Kent looked around and all he met were angry gazes and the tiny smirk on Drew’s lips.

„I told Clementine that she needed to talk to her again. She didn’t want to, so I wrote her that note. I’m the only one who actually tries to do something at least!“ Drew quietly laughed for a second and grinned.

„If stupidity would hurt, you would be laying there on the ground, screaming for someone to end the suffering, wouldn’t you?“ Kent looked at her, seemingly getting angrier as time passed.

„You got some nerves calling me stupid on our ground.“ 

„I had the choice between you being insanely brave for writing that note, or stupid as shit. I decided to go with stupid. And I can tell you exactly why I decided that. As soon as you open that gate.“ Drew made a few steps towards the group.

„You’re the stupid one if you really think that we open the gate for you.“ Kent tried to raise his gun again, but Christa ripped it out of his hand before he could react against it.

„What the fuck, Christa?!“ He glared at her but only got a judging look in return.

„Open the gate.“ Clementine commanded while keeping an eye on Drew at all times. She didn’t need to see it to know that Violet thought about objecting but ultimately just complied and helped to make space and open the gate.

„See? Wasn’t so hard, was it?“ Drew said, while slowly walking down the lane the Ericson group had formed now, right through the gate.

„We know you don’t want to talk. What do you want then?“ They had regrouped right on the line of the gate. Clementine, who spoke, front in the middle, AJ and Christa on her right, Violet and Kent on her left and everyone else a bit behind. Clementine was thankful that no one tried to flee or charge at them. Who could’ve known if and when they would shoot?

„I wanted to listen. But instead, I was threatened. So I need Kent to listen to me now.“ Drew turned to them again.

„Just say what we need to do for you to leave us alone!“ Kent sounded very demanding.

„I don’t plan on leaving you alone at all and there is nothing you can give or say to me, that would change that. But I’m sure Clementine here already told you that, didn’t she?“ Drew stayed calm, fixating her gaze onto Kent but a cold shudder ran over Clementine’s back anyway. Or maybe even because of it. Kent stayed silent.

„Thought so. Clementine, I need you to do something for me.“ Only Drew’s eyes moved into her direction.

„And what?“ 

„Tell your people to get back in. Preferably into the building, please. I will only need you and Kent to be here for this. I don’t have the time nor the patience to keep an eye on everyone here and I’m sure none of you want me to take care of decreasing the numbers of people watching.“ Drew put her hands on her hips and a friendly smile on her lips that was somehow colder than any smile Clementine had ever seen. Clementine just looked at Drew for a moment. Contemplating what to do, but what choice did she have? 

„Everyone, please head back inside. We meet at Louis’ piano.“ Most of the group just silently nodded and made their way into the building.

„Are you sure?“ Christa asked her obviously concerned.

„I’m sure, Christa.“ Clementine assured her. She nodded and made a few steps towards the building, but when whether AJ nor Violet moved, she hesitated. Clementine exhaled audibly.

„Please...Both of you. Go with Christa.“ 

„But Clem...“ AJ tried to object but the begging look in Clementine’s eyes told him to leave it, so he hesitantly started to walk over to Christa.

„I’m going nowhere.“ Violet said without even looking at Clementine and the tone of her voice made clear that there was no reasoning with her. No amount of begging and pleading would get her back in. So Clementine just looked at AJ and Christa once more, nodded and watched them slowly walk to the Main building for a second before turning back to Drew.

„I reckon you’re Violet?“ Drew spoke out as soon as everyone could be sure that the rest of the group was back inside.

„Yes.“ Violet’s jawline spoke more words than her mouth did. She was very clearly trying to hold herself back, to not provoke Drew too much, who exchanged a short glance with Kevin before continuing the conversation.

„Fine, you can stay then.“ Drew shrugged a bit.

„Cut the bullshit and tell us what you want already!“ Kent leaned a bit forward and tried to make himself look bigger, but everyone could tell that he was everything but intimidating. Especially not to Drew or the four men, that still held on tight to their machine guns. Neither reacted to his short outburst, making Kent tense up even more. Maybe he finally understood how much he had fucked up. 

„First of all, Kent and I hope you memorize that fast: I’m the one that makes the rules here. I thought I made that clear with the warning I sent you.“ Clementine watched Drew carefully. Drew seemed to look at each of them individually for a moment, taking their expressions in, probably measuring their reactions to be prepared for everything. 

„What warning are you talking about?“ Kent pressed the words through his teeth. 

„What the fuck is wrong with you? She’s talking about Omar!“ Violet looked at him like he lost his mind, making him back up a bit.

„Look at that. You were right, Kevin. She is special and at least smarter then he is. Granted: That’s not too hard but eh.“ Drew shrugged. „Since I mentioned him. I would like you to meet my ‘Los cuatro mortales’.“ She added, slowly walking over to Kevin, letting her hand slide from his shoulder over his chest. For the first time since they arrived here, Clementine took the time to examine each and every one of the men individually. Starting with the one, she knew already. 

Kevin was standing there, consciously taking Drew’s touch in. His piercing blue eyes made to stand out more with black streaks running down his face of something like make-up. His blonde hair was tied back into a short ponytail, the sides of his head shaved. His beard was braided with little wooden pearls. Clementine recognized that look, or at least it reminded her of the Vikings she had read about. His height alone was always intimidating but with all that get up, he definitely was someone you would not wish to mess with.

„You all know my right-hand man, Kevin. Right beside him is Deacon.“ Drew introduced them one by one, so Clementine followed her ‘guidance’ to get a feel for who they were facing. Deacon was a little bit shorter than the aforementioned man, but still considerably taller than Drew was. He wasn’t a giant mass of muscle like Kevin was, but still athletic and definitely fit. His light brown hair fell onto his shoulders since only a part of it was tied back and despite a thick beard, only the long grown mustache was braided with the same wooden pearls that Kevin had. 

He also had the same black streaks in his face but his looked more like raven wings decorating his features. His icy blue eyes seem to stare right through Clementine. Literally. Something told her, that he wasn’t really there, as if his mind was partly shut off despite his involvement in the given scenario. But even with that knowledge, she was sure he wouldn’t hesitate to use the gun in his hands as he held firmly on to it. Clementine’s eyes followed Drew again, as she walked over to the next of her henchman.

„This is Emilio. Careful, he certainly likes the ladies.“ Drew grinned a bit. The introduction prompted a bright smile from him and his stance changed a little. His dark hair was cut short but weirdly stylish for the world they lived in now. He had a little patch of hair right under his lower lip and a somewhat fitting thin mustache to go with it. He was about the same height as Deacon but had broader shoulders then him. His skin was slightly tanned but right next to Drew, he still looked lighter-skinned. Clementine wasn’t sure what to think of him, but he didn’t seem as intimidating as the other two. Drew finally reached the last man.

„And this is Alec. He might be a little slow up there, got hit in the head one too many times. But he sure is loyal.“ Alec was a tall, dark-skinned man. Build like a truck with its headlights coming right at you. His black hair was trimmed as short as possible and his beard only framed his slightly opened mouth. His dark brown eyes seemed almost empty but focused at the same time. He was a man on a mission and nobody could stop him from finishing it. That was the impression he made on Clementine.

As Drew walked back to her place between the men, Clementine took a short glance at Violet and Kent. Violet still stood there, muscles as tense as they could be, seemingly grinding her teeth as she had locked her gaze onto Drew. Nonetheless, Clementine was sure that she had monitored Kevin as well. Kent on the other hand did his best to simultaneously look aggressive and week-kneed. 

„Get to the point already!“ He still had a big mouth though.

„The point is...“ Drew fixated Kent sending a visible shiver down his spine. Clementine noticed it, despite Violet standing between them. „...Other than Alec here, you’re a filthy little rat. You were told that there was no point in talking to me again and you went behind Clementine’s back and brought me here. I brought four men with me, holding four guns. Now imagine I wouldn’t be as nice as I’m being right now. That would mean you would be all dead by now. So with knowing that, does what you did sound like something you should do?“ Drew looked at Kent like a teacher that had to explain something to a child that she already had explained a hundreds time over and was getting fed up with it. Clementine thought about stepping in but wasn’t sure what to say exactly. 

„I was actually trying to do something. Not bury our heads in the sand!“ Kent didn’t back down.

„Kent, you’re only making it worse.“ Clementine finally spoke.

„Oh shut up, kid!“ Kent barked at Clementine. She opened her mouth to say something, but Drew cut her off.

„See, the truth is: The one acting like a kid, is you. You don’t think, you just act and not in a good way. Clementine thought about our little chat and acted accordingly. Set up defenses and wait. Smart move. Get to know the danger before trying to dive into it. Look at it like a chess game: We take turns. I made the first move, she made the second and so on. The problem now is, that chess is a two player game, right? There are two Kings. Clementine and myself. But you broke the rules. You thought, a pawn could call the next move. But he can’t and he shouldn’t. He should be loyal and follow. So, what is my next turn? I take the pawn that went out of line.“ Drew looked at Emilio and Alec, which only nodded in response before they turned their backs to everyone and walked off into the woods. 

„If she’s a King then she should say something and don’t just stand there!“ Kent looked at Clementine but quickly received an angry glare.

„I did say something. I said something before you brought her here and I told you you’re making it worse but you didn’t listen.“ She really didn’t want to prove Drew right but no matter how much she wished she could say that she wasn’t, it didn’t make it true.

„Sure, agree with the people that came here to kill us. What a great leader you are!“ Kent barked.

„Shut the fuck up! You’re the fucking reason she’s here, not Clem. She welcomed you into our group, put up with your shit and you’re just trying to save your own stupid ass! Just shut your fucking mouth for once, you fucking coward!“ Violet had enough of his shenanigans, that was obvious and Kent was taken aback for a moment.

„That was a very colorful language but nonetheless, you should take what she said to heart, because I need you to listen carefully now.“ Drew made a few steps towards Kent and when she stopped, Clementine took a short glance over to Kevin and just like she had thought he had shut the safety on his gun off again and had put his finger on the trigger. Drew looked over her shoulder. Following her direction, Clementine saw her two henchman coming back, pushing a Krane cart with something moving but cloaked on it, right between the groups.

„Looks like Alec and Emilio brought my surprise.“ Drew walked over to the cart and ripped the white sheet off of what was now revealed to be a woman, bound and gagged, kneeling on the hardwood board they put on the cart. 

The disorientated and panicked woman looked around and started to press sounds, that probably should have been desperate shouts, through the gag as soon as her eyes found Kent. His expression changed multiple times in that moment. Disbelieve, worry, sadness then anger.

„Sally! Let her go!“ He trying to order Drew to do what he says, just made her laugh.

„No, but I would like to give you the chance to save your wife. Oh and your baby of course.“ Drew, for a short moment, placed her hand on the obvious pregnancy belly under the muffled protest from Sally.

„She has nothing to do with it, Drew. Let her go.“ Clementine couldn’t just stand there and watch this in silence, as well as Violet couldn’t but she held back for now, clenching the bow in her hand.

„That’s in Kent’s hands now, I’m afraid. Let us see, what he decides.“ Drew had looked at Clementine while talking to her but turned back to Kent now.

„What is there to decide? Let her go, you maniac!“ He shouted. Drew just nodded slowly.

„Fine. I can do that. But if I let her go, you will die. Only one of you will survive this. Well and maybe the baby, depends on who you pick. So, who will die? You or your pregnant wife?“ Clementine made a step forward but in the blink of an eye all four machine guns were aimed at her and she stopped dead in her tracks.

„Just let me decide how to punish him. That’s what you want, right? Punishing him because he betrayed me. Isn’t it my duty to do it and not yours?“

„Clem...“ Violet’s voice was heavy with worry but Clementine only shook her head for a second and smiled for even shorter, before looking at Drew again.

„It is. But I know that you wouldn’t do it properly. Not yet anyway. I know you can and I know you did already, but you wouldn’t do it now. That’s why I came here. To do it for you. I wouldn’t want the game to be skewed before it properly started, you know?“ Drew smiled, condescending almost.

„I still don’t know what game you’re playing, but I can do it my way and I will. You can just leave and I take care of it.“ Clementine had the hunch that this probably wouldn’t work, but she had to try. She had to.

„You will understand soon enough. For now, I will do for what I came here for. And now be so kind and don’t interrupt me again, will you?“ Drew’s whole expression changed. Her facial features that were relaxed this whole time suddenly hardened. Her already ominous gray eyes pierced right through Clementine making her skin crawl. Sally had started crying in the meantime while Kent seemed to fight with himself.

„Are you serious? You’re really thinking about this?!“ Violet hissed in a faint voice to Kent.

„Shut up! You don’t care anyway. You heard her, its my decision.“ He growled back at her.

„Quiet Kent. Let her talk. I want to hear what she thinks about your hesitation.“ Of course Drew had overheard it but Violet just glared at Drew for a moment, making her sigh.

„Come on. I want to hear it. I want to know your thoughts on his hesitation. Be honest.“ She added and her features grew softer again. Violet looked at Clementine for a second and after a brief nod from her, she looked back at Drew.

„It’s fucking stupid. If its really his wife and the baby or him? Then he shouldn’t have to think about it.“ Violet’s voice was clearly full of resentment for Kent’s reaction.

„So, if I would ask you to decide between Clementine and y...“ Violet cut Drew off.

„Me. Always me.“ Drew nodded appreciatively.

„That was certainly quick. How do you think about that, Clementine? Would you agree with that decision?“ Clementine slowly shook her head.

„No.“ 

„Why’s that?“ Drew seemed genuinely curious.

„Because I wouldn’t want her to die. Just as she doesn`t want me to die.“ Was the brief but obvious answer. For Clementine it was obvious at least.

„Interesting. Did you hear that Kent? These two think you should pick yourself. Let me hear what you think. Decide. Now.“ Drew fixated him again, putting him on the spot.

„Just give me 5 minutes.“ Kent did seem stressed but Clementine couldn’t understand his reaction, just like Violet couldn’t.

„Now.“ Drew emphasized, while walking over to Sally, making clear that he really had no more time left. But when he still hadn’t lost a word, she grabbed Sally’s hair and pulled her head back hard.

„Take her then! You’re already on it anyway!“ He shouted desperately.

„What?!“ Clementine couldn’t believe what she heard.

„You fucking piece of shit!“ Violet blurted out.

„Fine. If that’s your decision...“ Drew reached for her knife.

„No!“ Clementine yelled but what she feared to happen, didn’t. Drew let go of Sally’s head and just cut her free and helped her get up.

„Go. Right through the gate into the building in front of you. Don’t look back or I will do what your husband wanted me to, understood?“ Sally frantically nodded, since she was still gagged and as soon as Drew released her out of her grasp, she stumbled into the school grounds as fast as she could. Drew looked at Kent again.

„So, you failed the test. I can’t say that I’m surprised.“ She started to walk over to him. The four men behind her aiming at Violet and Clementine, to make sure they wouldn’t interfere. Kent glared at here.

„Fuck your test and fuck you, too! I won’t die like this!“ He turned to Violet, snatched the bow and arrow out of her hand and fired it in an almost admirable speed at Drew. She side-stepped but the arrow still went into her shoulder, getting stuck there in the process. Two rapid single shots were fired and Kent broke down to the ground, screaming. Drew looked down at him.

„Well, I wanted to do it myself but it seems you want to be punished a little bit harder. Clementine, Violet, it was nice meeting you.“ Drew’s expression didn’t change at all. Blood dripped slowly from the arrow in her shoulder, but she acted like it wasn’t even there. While Kent was scream-crying on the ground in his own blood, pouring out of where his kneecaps once were, she smiled at the two young women that stood there in utter disbelief, turned around and started to walk away.

„He’s yours now, Kevin. And be a good boy and clean up after.“ Drew said, while walking past him into the woods, followed by Alec. Emilio and Deacon remained standing there, still aiming at Clementine and Violet, rendering them unable to do anything, if they didn’t want to get shot. Kevin nodded, put his gun on his back and walked slowly over to Kent. When he reached him, towering over him, Kent looked up to him. Tears of pain pouring down his face.

„You don’t have to do this, Kevin. You already made me a fucking cripple, whats the point in killing me?“ He tried to plead but Kevin stayed silent. Behind him, Emilio and Deacon started to move forward, making Clementine and Violet back off onto the school grounds. Kevin looked over to them.

„You don’t need to see this.“ He placed his hands on each side of Kent’s head and started to press against them. Emilio and Deacon had pushed Clementine and Violet back in and proceeded to pull the gate shut. So whats left for them to witness were only the blood curdling screams Kent emitted and the following sudden silence.


End file.
